Alex Haig is ePortfolio Projects Manager for NHS Education for Scotland (NES) based in Edinburgh, Scotland. He has designed and led the ePortfolio projects, with colleague Karen Beggs, since their inception in 2005. Initially establishing the ePortfolio for newly graduated Scottish doctors, Alex has directed the expansion of the projects across the United Kingdom and into higher specialty medical training. In 2006 Alex began work with leads for Dentistry and Pharmacy to deliver a number of bespoke ePortfolio versions for these professions, and in 2009 established the first Nursing version for the National Health Service. The ePortfolio projects currently span technological, quality assurance and research work streams. Alex and his team are working to integrate the ePortfolio software with online educational platforms and related electronic systems.
Prior to the ePortfolio, Alex worked in the application of evidence-based methodology to medical education research and practice. In particular he was heavily involved with the production of systematic reviews of the effectiveness of educational interventions for the Best Evidence Medical Education Collaboration (BEME) and the governance of the Collaboration itself. This is an international group synthesising the highest quality evidence to inform decision making and practice across a range of educational interventions. Before his educational work, Alex produced clinical guidance with the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and delivered multi-professional training at teaching hospitals on research and IM&T.
Alex is completing a doctorate with the University of Dundee, evaluating the educational use of self-assessment, its validity and reliability, and how self-assessment can be efficiently used within ePortfolio and online learning environments.