Exploring the Use of a Portfolio as an Assessment Process: A Narrative Review of the Literature and Indications for Best Usage in Occupational Therapy (OT) Education

Background: The focus of most undergraduate health professions curricula is to educate students to a point where they are considered by both their profession and their university as ready and able to practice. Readiness to practice is determined by the measurement of professional competence, including the ability to apply knowledge to practice through a clinical reasoning process. At the end of the course the assessment of academic and clinical performance is seen as an essential precursor to entry into practice. However the valid and reliable assessment of clinical competence in health professions remains a challenge. Portfolio-based assessment is a relatively new assessment method used in the undergraduate curricula of allied health professions. It has been introduced in recent years as an instrument to link undergraduate learning to ongoing professional requirements for credentialing and accreditation by professional bodies. This paper explores the portfolio as an assessment method through a narrative review. It examines the literature available in allied health and medical education. Discussion: The paper reviews the portfolio's potential to enhance the validity and reliability of the current assessment of undergraduate occupational therapy students. The paper concludes with a recommendation to trial an additional portfolio assessment for final year undergraduate occupational therapy students.