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The Postgraduate Training committee thought it might be timely to distribute some guidance for Educational Supervisors, to assist them in this new role. Many of the Educational Supervisor's (ES) responsibilities are similar to those which the College Tutor (CT) previously undertook, but there is an expectation that contact with your trainees will be more regular than was feasible for the college tutor to undertake. There will inevitably be some variation between departments about division of responsibility between ES and CT. There will have to be some agreement about number of workplace based assessments required over any given time, and it will usually be the college tutor who decides on timings of different modules – clearly this will need considerable liaison between college tutor and ESs. The information here is taken from the Gold Guide which I would encourage you to download and read – it is a pretty hefty volume, but section 4.15 – 4. 26 relate specifically to Educational Supervision, and 4.27 – to Clinical Supervision. Also the RCoA website contains the training manuals for the different levels of trainees and is easily accessed. ‘Educational Supervisors are responsible for overseeing training to ensure that trainees are making the necessary clinical and educational progress’. Main duties are as follows:
1. You should meet with your trainees as soon as is feasible when they are appointed. You should prepare a Learning Agreement which should detail the educational objectives for the year, including proposals for taking exams, undertaking audits, teaching etc. The college tutor may also have issued the trainee with some objectives e.g. the number of DOPS, CBD, mini-CEX they will be expected to do. Your trainee should keep you informed about that, and that should be included in the learning agreement ( this may evolve to the ES - this is in development stage at present). The Learning Agreement should be the point of reference for future appraisal. Many hospitals will already have developed a prototype plan, but I have included a suggested Learning Agreement for those who are unsure of what to do and in an attempt to standardize plans. 2. ARCP – most of you will already have been involved with this in May/June last year. Although it is the trainee's responsibility to prepare their paperwork they may need some assistance with this. You have to prepare an Educational Supervisor' report which the trainee sends with their portfolio to NES. There was some uncertainty about the amount of detail required for the report – Neil O'Donnell sent out a prototype report last year and we will update that as required. There was quite a wide variety in the detail submitted last year . 3. You should meet with the trainee regularly ( rotations will make this difficult, but ongoing contact is required) and check on progress. You should check that the trainee is maintaining their learning portfolio. Liason with College Tutor will be required if progress is not satisfactory. Contact should be made every 3-4 months, and feedback given on progress. 4. Appraisal – this should be undertaken regularly when meeting with your trainees . There is a suggested appraisal document in Appendix 7 of the Gold Guide – it is similar to the forms used for consultant appraisal. My impression is that many ESs are using a simpler, modified version of this at present, and whether we have to adhere to the form in the gold Guide is not at present clear. A suggested educational appraisal template is attached. 5. Although the ARCP is a paper exercise, and the Gold Guide stipulates that there is not a face to face meeting, it is thought that most trainees will benefit from a face to face meeting at the very least with their college tutor and it would be anticipated that the ES would attend this too.. There was considerable variation in how much detail was supplied in the ES reports last year, and considerable confusion about what was required. It became clear during the ARCP process that it was helpful to have a reasonable amount of detail, particularly as it is the basis for individuals to be signed off for the previous year of training. Unfortunately the Gold Guide undergoes some modification every year – check you are using he relevant version. What I have written today is not set in tablets of stone. All Educational and Clinical Supervisors will have to demonstrate that they have undergone training in supervision. NES organizes specific courses for this (SCOTS course). In summary, as ES you are expected to see your trainees 3-4 times per annum, prepare a Learning Agreement , perform appraisal, help prepare your trainee for the ARCP process, and prepare an ES report. While it is the trainee's responsibility to contact you, clearly some trainees may need more support and encouragement than others. Last year some trainees had not completed the paperwork in time for ARCP, and training can be delayed if there is not an acceptable reason for this. Finally, many thanks for all your considerable efforts, particularly when the mechanism of undertaking your tasks was so unclear. It would be a good idea to keep a record of the time taken to perform ES duties, in view of the potential for increasing scrutiny of SPA activities. Item 4.26 of the Gold Guide states ‘Employers of educational supervisors must have this role recognized within job planning arrangements’. Many thanks and kind regards, Liz Elizabeth McGrady Deputy Regional Advisor – East sector
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Educational Supervisors
