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Educational supervisor
Minimum FPH requirements for being an educational supervisor
A trainer who is appointed and appropriately trained to be responsible for the overall supervision, management and assessment of a specified registrar's educational progress during a training placement or series of placements. They are responsible for assessing and confirming acquisition of learning outcomes and competences. The educational supervisor is responsible, together with the Training Programme Director, for the registrar's educational agreement, educational objectives, remediation measures and producing reports for annual reviews.
Educational supervisors will:
- Be committed to actively providing high quality training and timely supervision.
- Ensure that there are suitable local induction arrangements in place for each registrar starting in a new organisation.
- Process documentation for ARCPs in a timely manner.
- Conduct appraisals for registrars.
Background requirements for an educational supervisor:
- On a relevant Specialist Register.
- Be a consultant or senior professional working in an area relevant to public health.
- Meet the requirements of the local deanery training programme.
- Has attended a core supervisor development module.
- Keeps up to date around the curriculum and assessment systems.
- Participates in FPH CPD or equivalent scheme.
Supervisors should show a commitment to training by:
- Being readily accessible to the trainees for whom they have been appointed supervisor. Regularly attending educational and supervisor development events and Faculty and Regional training conferences.
- Assessing the learning needs of trainees attached to them on an individual basis and drawing up a realistic and achievable learning plan with them.
- Using a written framework for training with regular review and constructive feedback. Being able and willing to identify and ensure delegation of appropriate tasks and responsibilities to the Trainee.
- Facilitating learning opportunities not available locally to ensure exposure to the full range of required competencies.
Education supervisors' responsibilities for newly appointed trainees
On appointment of a trainee, the educational supervisor should:
- Ensure that all the personnel matters and arrangements are in hand and that all the required facilities (e.g. desk, telephone etc.) are available before the individual arrives.
- Introduce the trainee to other trainees and ensure that one of them is able to act as a 'buddy'; introduce the trainee to other members of the department.
- Confirm allocation of and introduce the trainee's academic tutor and encourage regular contact with them.
- Arrange an appropriate induction programme including communicable disease control (CDC) training.
- Ensure adequate briefing of the organisation/department in which the trainee is to work.
- Assess the trainee's previous experience and relate this to future responsibilities and work so that it builds on their existing skills.
- Agree an initial programme of work and review it regularly and as frequently as required.
- Assign short term work appropriate to the trainee's current level of knowledge and skills and ensure this fits in with the induction programme and encourages the new trainee to feel part of the team.
- Encourage, support and offer the trainee constructive feedback.
- Review progress initially weekly - the minimum should be 1 hour of protected time but there should also be frequent informal contact.
- Facilitate first attachments to other colleagues in consultation with the Trainee and other supervisors.
- Facilitate and arrange CDC attachment to enable the trainee to start on-call responsibility.
