MedEdPORTAL (Oct 2013)
Developing as a Clinical Supervisor: Competence, Style, and Self-Awareness
Abstract
Abstract Introduction Training in the provision of clinical supervision has historically been an understudied and often underemphasized component of clinical training within medicine and health professions. It is challenging for new supervisors to develop competence and define their supervisory style without the benefit of focused education and training. New supervisors may look for and benefit from guidance as they begin their roles as clinical supervisors. This 2.5-hour didactic session is devised to assist faculty in teaching components of supervisory skill development and to help learners in the health professions explore their own developing approaches to providing clinical supervision. Methods The PowerPoint slides are designed to assist the workshop presenter, ideally with at least one other presenter, in delivering a didactic in a manner that engages the workshop participants in the material and encourages participation in group discussion. Presenters are provided with case examples in this presentation to supplement the novel material that participants may provide. The target audiences for this presentation are trainees or junior faculty in clinical health professions (e.g., psychiatry, nursing) who have not yet supervised clinical trainees or are in their early career stage of supervisory duties and responsibilities. While the material was developed for clinical psychology postdoctoral fellows, the materials can be adapted for use with supervisors involved in training any clinical health professionals. Results This session received positive feedback from postdoctoral psychology trainees in both 2011 and 2012. Feedback from this group of 19 trainees indicated very high ratings of the topic; the amount of new, relevant, and up-to-date information presented; and the lecture overall. Discussion One important limitation of this workshop is that an entire course or series of lectures/learning exercises could be devoted to the topic. Thus, it can be challenging to address all facets of supervisory style development in 2.5 hours. The interactive nature of the workshop session is a strength of the presentation. We encourage users to further expand this teaching tool to develop content-specific case examples that are most applicable to the domains that learners are likely to encounter.
Keywords
