Table 4.

Strengths and limitations of MEPs and E-MEPs.

Strengths of MEPs
Sub-themes	Elaboration and/or examples
Impact on medical educators	Motivates life-long self-learning1-4,6,8,14,18,20,24,71,75,77,78 Through repeating phases of reflection, preparation and execution of learning goals1-3,5,8,24,77 Flexibility in managing and selection of content in one’s own portfolio8,78 Identification of areas for improvement1,3,8,14,24,77,79 Developing self-awareness through reflection2,3,14,79 Facilitates the planning of activities to undertake in the future1,14,79 Strengthens good learning attributes3,77 Fosters self-confidence1,24 Develops an inquisitive mind 1 Promotes problem-solving skills 71 Promotes courage and stepping out of comfort zones 1 Encourages teamwork 75 Acquisition of competency3,24,77 Portfolios motivates educator to reach targeted objectives 2 Expertise improvement 1 Facilitates career advancements1,3,71,75,77 Fosters student-tutor relationships 25 Ease of organising documents for regular assessments as documents are already gathered 6
Impact on teaching	Improves quality of teaching1-3,20,75,77 By preparing teachings based on previous experiences2,79 By reflecting and being flexible during teachings2,20 Through multisource feedback from peers and learners regarding teaching practices2,6,75,77 Through collaboration with peers by sharing different perspectives, experiences and thoughts77,79
Impact on patient	Feedback improves patient care1,3 and patient safety 76
Impact on institute	Efficient assessment 71
Features of portfolio	Offers both qualitative and quantitative evidence16,19,20,69,75 Stimulates reflection1-4,8,24,75 Occurs throughout the process from the inclusion of meaningful evidence to the recognition of strengths and insufficiencies 8 Evaluates teaching practices, goals and philosophy 8 More comprehensive than other forms of documentation1,6,18,19,21,69,77,80 More accurate assessment of competence than curriculum vitae and/or letters of recommendation and/or standardised tests1,18,19,21,69,80 Better at illustrating an educator’s teaching techniques, efficacy, objectives and philosophy1,19 Allows evaluation of less successful activities 2
Strengths of E-MEPs
User perspective	Diversity of evidence such as Audio-visual recordings1,3,4,71, Graphics 3 , Web projects 3 , and Digital media1,3,22,71 may be included into MEPs Ease of accessibility, maintenance, and function1-3,7,22,71 Increases reflection8,9 Enhanced portability1,2,4 and instant access 9 Easy to update22,25, retrieve peers’ work and provide feedback9,71 Readily backed-up1,6 More presentable as compared to paper-based portfolios 6 Fosters collaboration and sharing of portfolio1,4,7,25 Provides privacy and security3,25,71 Greater learning drive2,22 More user-friendly2,25,71
Faculty perspective	Assessors and/or mentors can easily access user’s portfolio7,9,22 Allows administrators to evaluate portfolios regularly 9
Limitations of MEPs and E-MEPs
Sub-themes	Elaboration and/or Examples
User perspective	MEPs: Time and effort required2,8,23,25,77,79 User stress when deciding what content to include 16 Lack of user motivation8,74 Lack of user control over portfolio components 2 and variability in rigidity or flexibility 2 Assessment orientated E-MEPs: Lack of technologic skill required to navigate online platform Unacquainted3,8,9 Lack of technical support3,8 Unable to find the time to learn how to use3,8 Security Hacking3,8
Faculty perspective	MEPs: Time and effort required8,20 Cost to assess 23 Unnecessary 18 Inadequate as a stand-alone measure of performance 18 Presence of other documentation modalities already in use 18 Lack of reliability2,19 subjectivity is a concern due to variability of portfolio content7,19,20 Issues with plagiarism 8 E-MEPs: Resources Lack of availability of computers in workplace 9 Increase expenditure to provide technological support and training9,25 With high expectations for a visually pleasing and functionally impeccable design, creating an e-portfolio for medical educators can be challenging 8