title: Knowledge and use of academic portfolios among primary care departments in U.S. medical schools.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Portfolios are used to summarize and communicate the academic accomplishments of faculty seeking career development and promotion.
  
  
  METHODS
  We assessed knowledge and use of the portfolio in a cross sectional survey of 435 academic chairpersons of family medicine and division directors of general internal medicine and general pediatrics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 241 respondents (55% response rate), 69% reported knowledge of portfolios and 55% used portfolios. Satisfaction with the source of information on a faculty candidate was greater when portfolios were used (85.5% of respondents) than when they were not used (67.3% of respondents; p = .01). Increased knowledge and use of portfolios was associated with respondents working at institutions with academic fellowships/advanced education programs or who had fellowship training (ps = .01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results suggest that leaders of primary care departments use portfolios to promote the career development of their faculty and that portfolio use is influenced by attitudes and training.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family & Community Medicine, The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, Texas 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Sumaiya E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Zobairi
authors.forename: Linda Z
authors.initials: LZ
authors.lastname: Nieman
authors.forename: Lee
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D002322:Career Mobility; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005180:Faculty, Medical; D006801:Humans; D007586:Job Application; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012577:Schools, Medical; D014481:United States