As per the Post-Graduate Medical Education (PGME)-2023 guidelines, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has mandated all postgraduate residents to maintain an E-logbook to record the progress and training received throughout the residency period.1 It is now required that “postgraduate students of broad and super-specialty degree courses shall maintain a dynamic e-log book which needs to be updated on a weekly basis about the work being carried out by them and the training programme undergone during the period of training.”2 Logbooks have been commonly used in medical practice and offer a means for formative feedback.3 They often assist in reaching and evaluating educational and clinical goals.4 They also help keep residents accountable and vigilant about their progress.5 In a recent survey by Ashwini et al.,5 residents and supervisors were asked to respond to questions regarding the practicality and utility of an E-logbook. The results demonstrated a concurrent level of agreement between both groups concerning its utility. Investigators from Dartmouth college provided a systematic description of transitioning from a handwritten logbook to an E-logbook. The electronic version was found to enhance data analysis, with the students echoing its ease of use.6 In a comparison between an unstructured, handwritten logbook and a formatted logbook during a fourth-year emergency medicine sub-internship, Coates et al.7 reported that 85–95% of students using the formatted logbook were likely to see specific diagnoses listed therein, as compared to 50–60% students using the handwritten version. The move by the NMC to mandate E-logbooks is a welcome change as it offers an opportunity to create a dynamic, visual record of the residency journey. It provides a digital tool to regularly record clinical activities, academic tasks, procedures, and progress during training, which is updated in real time and is accessible online, as opposed to a traditional portfolio that is often a paper-based collection of documents that showcase a trainee’s achievements and skills, typically compiled manually over time. With ample room for creativity and personalization, E-logbooks can serve budding dermatologists well beyond their training period. We share our experience in creating E-logbooks and hope it will serve as a guide for residents across India. The First Challenge: Choosing the Right Platform As the E-logbook was a recently mandated requirement by the NMC, there were no standardised platforms available or recommended by them. Some institutions developed in-house Learning Management System (LMS) applications. However, these require capital investment by the institution and robust technical support, which is not universally available, especially in government institutions. Commercial options like AmpleLogic®, MedLog®, Dr.Log®, SurgiTrack®, and ValGenesis® offer AI-driven features. However, these often come with high costs, making them impractical for use as a mandatory tool by all residents. Our institution and our Medical Education Unit explored and promoted the use of Google sites® as the desired platform to create and maintain E-logbooks for postgraduates. It offers versatility and various advantages including free access via Google accounts, no additional requirement for software installation, automatic cloud backup via Google Drive, easy sharing and permission settings, and direct integration with various Google tools including Docs, Sheets, Forms, and Slides. However, the major drawback was the limited storage space available with Google drive, and the expenses that one might incur to avail an expanded storage. We circumvented this by converting all multimedia files into compressed portable document format (PDF) files, shrinking the digital data significantly. This also made it mobile-friendly, offering ease for the faculty and examiners to review the logbook. Designing the E-logbook We designed the E-logbooks in alignment with dermatology-specific NMC requirements to ensure that relevant sections and achievements were clearly organised and easily accessible for evaluation. While the structure remained uniform for all residents, there was ample room for personal creativity. Dedicated tabs with embedded Google Sheets and linked documents were designed to cover the following key sections Figure 1:Figure 1: (a) Suggested content for the homepage for an E-logbook on Google Sites®, showing the various tabs which were added. (b) Suggested content for the ‘Departmental Activities’ tab containing Google sheets®, highlighting semester-wise academic pursuits of resident. (c) Suggested ‘Assessments’ added in the embedded Google sheet®. (d) ‘Publications’ tab showing color-coded drop-down menus to highlight and compartmentalize the status of each publication, along with the embedded links to the published article About Me: A brief biography and contact details of the resident on the homepage Figure 1a Departmental activities: Semester-wise tracking of case presentations, procedural skills, and postings (including district residency) Figure 1b. Signed evaluation forms are uploaded as PDFs to ensure transparency and prevent falsifying of records Figure 1c. Research: Thesis title and its real-time progress updates. Any additional research project undertaken by the resident can also be included. Conferences and workshops: Academic events attended by the resident, along with scanned certificates and/or photographs. Posters and presentations: Academic engagements beyond routine work. The presentation certificates are a mandatory upload in this section. Publications: Embedded Google sheet lists the submitted/published research articles with real-time updates regarding publication status, digital object identifier (DOI) links, and uploaded PDFs Figure 1d. Awards and accolades: Achievements during residency including details of prizes, recognitions, and research grants awarded (including but not limited to thesis grants). Extracurricular activities: Tracks the holistic development during residency by showcasing participation in non-academic activities that promote wellbeing, character building, and professional skills. Residents can include creative pursuits, event organization, community outreach, health camps, and social work. Once created, the E-logbook can be shared via Google Sites link with the faculty and examiners, ensuring easy access and eliminating the need for physical submissions or in-person reviews. The digital format reduces the risk of document loss, saves space, and allows seamless sharing for official use with basic permission settings. The E-logbook allows the owner (the resident) to control accessibility. Others are allowed to only view and not edit, thereby ensuring data security, regulating and preventing unauthorized modifications. All the assessment forms are duly dated, signed by faculty, and uploaded as PDF files, making them available for review at any later date. Updates made through the shared link are automatically saved and visible in real time, promoting transparency and continuity. Residents are encouraged to upload relevant materials immediately after each event. The logbooks are reviewed monthly as well as semester-wise by designated faculty to ensure alignment with curriculum guidelines and record internal assessment. Various innovations and tools utilized in creating the E-Logbook via Google Sites helped us make the output holistic. These are detailed below: Integration of Google Sheets® enabled organized record-keeping across various domains. Use of color-coded tabs enhanced visual appeal and made tracking entries and updates more intuitive. Use of the ‘Image Carousel’ feature helps showcase images from various activities, enabling to add a personal and creative touch to the E-logbooks, and give deeper insights into the residents’ lives. Uploaded images (JPEG) of certificates from workshops and conferences not only help document participation, but also keep a track of continuing medical education (CME) credit hours, mentioned on them. Uploading PDF version as well as DOI link of every publication, embedded in Google sheets, ensures quick and direct access to published work without the need for manual search. Table 1 provides a comprehensive insight into the advantages and differences of an E-logbook over a physical one.Table 1: Differences between physical logbook and E-logbookTo conclude, logbooks have been commonly used in medical practice and offer a means for formative feedback, apart from enabling educational and clinical goals. They also help keep residents accountable and vigilant about their progress. Digital E-logbooks offer permanence, accessibility, and creativity, evolving into dynamic portfolios that can support residents well beyond their training years. Unlike static resumes, an E-logbook offers a comprehensive, real-time portfolio that evolves with the resident—potentially becoming a standout component in a physician’s professional journey. The same can be created through free available and accessible software, making it possible to fulfil the NMC requirements, and at the same time maintain long-term access. Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest One of the authors is a member of the editorial board of the journal. The manuscript was subject to journal’s standard procedure and peer review was held independently of the editor or their research group(s). Use of artificial intelligence (AI) The preparation of this manuscript was carried out entirely by the authors without the use of artificial intelligence technologies.
Pal et al. (Mon,) studied this question.