Review Periods - what are these & who creates them?

You may not be used to the term 'Review Period" from your previous Portfolio, but here we explain what these actually are, and why you will be using these on our system.

What are they?

Review Periods are the way we break down a Stage of Training, into smaller chunks of time (usually around 6 months), so the information for an Educational Supervisor's Review (ESR) can be collated neatly.

Each Review Period will be denoted in a Trainee's Portfolio by a title showing their Stage of Training, followed by which Review Period they are in within that Stage of Training (for example ST1-1, ST1-2 and so on).

At the end of each Review Period an Educational Supervisor Review (ESR) will occur, and will need to be signed off by Trainee and Supervisor.

Why are these being used as well as Stages of Training?

Review Periods have been introduced as time periods to time bind which learning entries apply to which ESR to try and make things easier to organise / review for both trainees and supervisors.

They are also used as a way to link Trainees and Supervisors on our Portfolio, because a Trainee may have several different Supervisors in any given Stage of Training, and Review Periods are how this can be distinguished.

Who creates them?

This is dependent on the situation, and Deanery, but here's a quick guide.

Initial migration:

When you are initially migrated across it is your Deanery Admin Team or Patch/Programme Office who will be in charge of creating the initial Review Periods for Trainees, and they will link the Supervisor to them.

ESR Sign Off:

If you are a Supervisor signing off an ESR, and you will continue as the Supervisor for that trainee into the next Review Period, you will have the ability to create the next Review Period for your Trainee.

However if you are no longer going to be the Supervisor for the Trainee's next Review Period this is something your Deanery Admin Team or Patch/Programme Office will need to arrange, as a new ES will need to be linked.

Can I get a Review Period reopened/unlocked?

Once an ESR is signed off, and the Review Period is locked, we cannot reopen it for further additions/editing, without the authority of the Educational Supervisor pre ARCP, or at the request of the Deanery post ARCP. We would typically suggest that you move onto the next Review Period to record ongoing evidence. The only additions that can be made to locked Review Periods are in the Compliance Passport, eg. the Form R.

Trainee gap in Training:

If any Trainee is away from their training for a period of time, for example Sick leave or Maternity leave, they will have a Stage of training listed on the system for this, but no Review Period, as no ESR is required. This will be created by your Deanery Admin Team or Patch/Programme Office.