How to display your medical procedure training logbook for supervisor review
Medical trainees everywhere are faced with ever-increasing emphasis on proving what practical experience they have, under the umbrella of “experiential learning”. It is no longer enough to show you’ve got the full complement of WBPAs (workplace based assessments) and completed other assessment tools such as multi-consultant reports. In many cases your annual review (ARCP) panel — the gatekeepers to your progression through post-graduate medical training — will expect a comprehensive list of your practical experience.
The reason for this is twofold: firstly, to ensure you are making the most of the educational opportunities available to you. Second, to audit your standard of work. This latter will be obvious in two principal ways: complication rates and level of independence at practical procedures.
This is where the pre-formatted medical procedure logbooks from logitbox.com really come into their own. Not only do they provide a quick at-a-glance summary of all your procedural activity, but they also provide enough detail to demonstrate that a trainee is progressing as expected. The summary totals shown on the left reassure reviewers that you are achieving the expected exposure to core procedural techniques. They also allow trainees who are not getting the required experience for one reason or another to make this point in a concrete and definitive way. For example, if a cardiology trainee completes 260 diagnostic coronary angiograms in their first ST3 training year, but only 35 in the first six months of their next ST4 year, there is clearly a problem with training in their current ST4 placement. Making these figures easily available to the people running your training allows you to head off problems like this before they impact your development as a doctor. By examining these trends yourself, you can also troubleshoot your own training and really take control of your professional development.
The second, detailed, part of the logitbox.com procedure logbook report provides a comprehensive summary of each individual procedure you have performed and the level of supervision or assistance you required. This addresses another key aspect of a procedural logbook: the ability to demonstrate progression towards acquisition of core procedural competencies. The gradual reduction in supervision status from “assisted” to “supervised” and eventually “independent” is a core facet of postgraduate medical education.
The final section of the logitbox.com procedure logbook report is a full disclosure of all entered details on any procedures with complications. This unique feature of the Logitbox reporting system provides your supervisors with all the information they need to help you identify trends in your complications and suggest remedial training. It is increasingly important that all doctors engaging in procedural work are open about their complication rates, and subject themselves to regular audit. The logitbox.com procedure logbook report is a vital first step in this process and will help you and your supervisors identify trends in your procedural work that you were previously unaware of.
We made Logitbox so you could easily organise and securely record your clinical training records. Check it out now at logitbox.com.
