CPD for clinical support roles: I supervise trainees, prevocational doctors & students

Practice evaluation (category 1)

• Undertake a critical reflection on your examining work and develop a plan for practice change. Potential topics for reflection include your supervisory performance (ideally based on student/trainee feedback), a supervision episode, or integrating what you have learnt during supervisor skills training into your supervisory practice.
• Participate in a cultural safety activitySee the Support across work roles > Providing a culturally safe practice tab for more information with a view to better understanding cultural safety and implications for your supervisory practice. Following this activity, consider undertaking a critical reflection on what you have learnt and what it means for your practice.
• Formally engage with a mentor to further your professional goals for your educational practice. Claim hours spent doing so under the mentoring activity.
• Ask colleagues and those you supervise to provide you with multi-source feedback (clinical support), with a trusted colleague collating the feedback and discussing it with you.
• Ask a colleague to complete a peer review of educational practice, observing you supervising a trainee/student and providing feedback on the Teaching and facilitating learning domain.
• Participate in a peer support group of self-selected peers with expertise and interest in supervisor roles. Potential areas of focus for the group are listed under key areasLearning and growing as a supervisor, including your professional supports and networks; Enhancing your communication skills; Planning effective teaching and learning; Facilitating learning in clinical settings; Teaching in non-clinical settings; Enhancing your understanding of assessment concepts, including WBAs, evidence-based judgements and feedback conversations; Fostering a supportive and culturally safe learning environment; Supporting learners in their personal and professional development. See the resources section for peer support group discussion topics.
• Conduct a practice audit (clinical support) relevant to your supervisory practice. Potential topics for audit include the quality of the clinical learning environment or trainee feedback on supervisory practices in your department/hospital/practice.
• Present to a colleague/audience or write a report of your audit results, including key findings and the implications for your practice. Claim hours spent under report of audit findings.

Knowledge & skills (category 2)

• Undertake a formal educational qualification and claim time spent doing this under formal courses.
• Read peer-reviewed journals relevant to supervisory practice (see key areas to consider) Learning and growing as a supervisor, including your professional supports and networks; Enhancing your communication skills; Planning effective teaching and learning; Facilitating learning in clinical settings; Teaching in non-clinical settings; Enhancing your understanding of assessment concepts, including WBAs, evidence-based judgements and feedback conversations; Fostering a supportive and culturally safe learning environment; Supporting learners in their personal and professional development and claim this as journal reading.
• Attend face-to-face or virtual learning sessions on supervision relevant to your practice (for example: conferences, podcasts, webinars; see key areas to considerLearning and growing as a supervisor, including your professional supports and networks; Enhancing your communication skills; Planning effective teaching and learning; Facilitating learning in clinical settings; Teaching in non-clinical settings; Enhancing your understanding of assessment concepts, including WBAs, evidence-based judgements and feedback conversations; Fostering a supportive and culturally safe learning environment; Supporting learners in their personal and professional development). Claim time spent doing this under learning sessions.
• Prepare and deliver tutorials to trainees, prevocational doctors or medical students. Claim time spent doing this under teaching. Note that this does not include informal teaching (for example: in theatre or pain clinic) and supervision of trainee/student clinical work.
• If you have a formal role as a supervisor of training, education officer, other supervisor, tutor or examiner, you can claim time spent on formal trainee assessment with feedback as Trainee assessment reviews (see guideline for relevant examples). This does not include workplace assessments which are claimed under WBA of trainees.
• Assess trainee/student performance in the workplace using a structured form with constructive performance feedback. Claim time spent doing this under WBA of trainees.