Read time: 4 minutes
In this post, Maddie Wigmore-Sykes, a final-year medical student, demystifies the NHS ePortfolio and explains the best ways to get yourself MiniCEXs and CbDs.
Starting your clinical years of medical school is a time of excitement and new experiences, including your new companion: the NHS ePortfolio! Designed to help you gather feedback and reflect on your performance, the ePortfolio is something to get your head around and get used to – we’ll be filling out CbDs and MiniCEXs for a long time.
The bread and butter of the ePortfolio is the supervised learning event (SLE), a form you can send to doctors (FY2 and above!) who have witnessed you performing examinations or taking histories. They can then provide you with areas you did well on, and some areas to work on. At UCL, we’re expected to do four or five of these per term. SLEs are broken down further into CbDs and MiniCEXs, but what do they actually mean?
What is a CbD and how do I get one?
CbD stands for case-based discussion. The best way to get a CbD is to find a patient, take a history from them and then write up your findings. Try to think up a management plan based on the patient’s case and do some reading around their condition for bonus points. You can then present the patient to a doctor in the team who might ask you some questions about the case, such as what your differentials are and what you would do next if you were managing their care.
Module tutors are well-placed to present CbDs to. If you set up a meeting with them every few weeks, you can present a new patient to them each time and get a few CbDs straight off the bat. You can also just ask a friendly doctor who you’ve met a few times if it would be okay to present a patient to them – they’ll almost always say yes!
Here’s an example of what to write in your CbD ticket to send to a doctor (not a real patient):
So how do I do a MiniCEX?
I’m not sure if anyone really knows what a MiniCEX stands for or what makes it mini, but please let me know if you do! Effectively they’re all about examinations and you’ll need a doctor to watch you perform one on a patient from start to finish. They might then ask you to present your findings, which is really good practise for OSCEs and future life.
Bedside teaching is a perfect opportunity for getting a MiniCEX, so it’s worth brushing up on some examination skills beforehand and then being brave and volunteering to have a go! Twilight tutors are also keen to get patients with good clinical signs for you to examine as well.
Here’s an example of what to write in your MiniCEX ticket to send to a doctor (not a real patient):
Actually getting your SLEs signed off
To complete an SLE, you have to log onto your ePortfolio and send the doctor assessing you a ticket. You can do this by going onto Forms and then Ticket Requests. You’ll need to know the doctor’s email address to send them a ticket, so make sure you have that written down! Remember, the doctor has to be an FY2 or above to fill in your ticket. I’d also recommend uploading a photo of you to your ePortfolio profile – some doctors will get a lot of tickets and you want them to remember who you are.
Inevitably, some of your well-crafted tickets will not get filled in, so it’s worth doing a few more SLEs than you need to, just to make sure they all get done. The ePortfolio has an option to send reminders, so if it’s been a few weeks, don’t be afraid to send one. It might take a while for doctors to complete your ticket, so try to be organised and get your tickets sent out before the end of the module to prevent a mad dash to complete your ePortfolio!
In summary
- If you’re feeling nervous, do some SLEs with your module tutor. You can prepare in advance of the sessions and you’ll feel more comfortable with someone you know.
- Volunteer in bedside teaching to do the history or examination, it’s a great opportunity to have a doctor watch you perform these skills.
- When you’re in clinics or in the Emergency Department, you might be the first person a patient sees so you can elicit a history and examine someone without already knowing their diagnosis. This might be a bit trickier, but is definitely the most valuable way to do an SLE.