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📔  Teaching & Supervision

📔  Teaching & Supervision

This section of your portfolio is one that may either be very empty or very full depending on your employment history and your own interests. In this section, we will break down what is teaching and supervision, why and how you should record it, and how it relates to your medical appraisal.

Part 1: Teaching

What do we mean by Teaching?

When we say ‘teaching’ we are referring to times when you have been the teacher, not the student (we refer to that as learning). It can relate to the teaching you have given, courses you have attended that improve your teaching skills, or feedback you have received about your teaching ability.

Teaching shows that you are sharing what you have learned with those less experienced than you, and the people you work with.

In your portfolio, you should record your teaching experience in reverse chronological order (most recent first) according to medical calendar year (Aug - July, or appraisal calendar year if this is different).

What counts as teaching?

Teaching doesn’t always mean a formal classroom session for a large group. It can be 1:1, in-person or online, ward-based or classroom-based, formal or spontaneous. If you have imparted knowledge or skills to someone else, then you could probably call it teaching.

Do I need to give teaching?

No, you don’t ‘need’ to give teaching if it is not something you are interested in. Trainees may need to attend the ‘teach the teacher, train the trainer’ course and/or present at a Grand Round as part of their training requirements, however, if you are a non-trainee and your appraiser hasn’t specifically asked for it then you may not need to give any teaching at all.

How could giving teaching help my career?

If you plan to apply for specialty training in the future, some specialties give you extra application points if you have done teaching, attended teaching courses (like teach the teacher/train the trainer), or contributed to a local or national teaching programme. Your F3 year could be the perfect time to focus on teaching if you haven’t had much time to focus on teaching as an F2.

How do I evidence my teaching?

If you do give any teaching, then it is useful to retain evidence of it. This can be in the form of:

  • Teaching materials

    • This can include information pages, diagrams, quizzes, and summaries you have created for your teaching session.

    It is useful to hold onto these as you will likely do more teaching in the future and can reuse your teaching materials to save time and effort in the future.

  • Feedback

    • It is always worth collecting feedback from your students to help improve your teaching skills and materials. You can use this template or ask students to email you with a brief summary of the topics discussed and how they found your teaching approach. However, anonymous feedback is best as you are unlikely to get an honest response in an email.

Once you have gathered the above evidence, you should think about how you are going to store it in your portfolio.

Teaching feedback template and worked example

Presentation feedback and worked example

How should I group my evidence of teaching in my portfolio?

If you repeat the same teaching session over and over, then keep all documents relating to that topic together. If you do random teaching sessions here and there, on a number of different topics, then you should group them in your portfolio in reverse chronological order (most recent first).

It is also worth thinking about how you will use this evidence in the future. If you need to do an appraisal or revalidation and want to include your teaching evidence, then using the appraisal ‘log-evidence-reflect’ model as you collect evidence can save you work and stress in the long term.

What is the ‘log, evidence, and reflect’ model?

This model is used in appraisal to discuss evidence that you supply to your appraiser (not just about teaching, but anything). It states that you should:

Log → Compile a list of teaching you have provided by date, or if it is a recurring topic then by theme.

Evidence → Keep copies of teaching materials that you have created, and feedback that you have received from your students.

Reflect → Do a written reflection on how teaching sessions went, questions posed to you, and student feedback. Comment on whether you adapted your teaching resources or teaching style based on the feedback you were given, or reflect on whether previous changes you made had a positive or negative effect.

How do I reflect on my teaching?

A brief reflection on your teaching can help you improve your skills and recurring teaching over the course of your career. As you narrow the scope of your medical career by specialising or refining your interests, you will undoubtedly find that you are teaching the same topics over and over.

Being able to pass on knowledge effectively so that your message is clear and memorable is a difficult skill to master. Self-reflection can help you notice when your teaching works well, and when it doesn’t.

When doing a reflection, write down:

  • Topic discussed (Ii.e. How to do a Mental State Exam)
  • Setting (i.e. Psychiatric Unit, Nursing office)
  • Class size (i.e. 1:1)
  • Time spent (i.e. 45 minutes)
  • What went well? (i.e. I checked the student’s baseline knowledge, did some teaching, and then assessed their skills after they did an MSE on a patient)
  • What could have gone better? (i.e. We did not make any notes as I gave the teaching as there were no desks available to write on. I did not provide any visual aids, which may have helped)
  • What feedback did the student(s) provide? (i.e. I got very positive feedback on the way I gave examples during my explanation and the fact that we included a practical element to the teaching.)
  • What should I do differently next time? (i.e. I’d like to pre-prepare a visual aid/hand-out with the MSE mnemonic so that the student has something to take into the practical element of the teaching, and take home with them after).

Where should I upload my teaching on the MAG?

There is no specific section on the MAG to upload teaching. You can include it in the additional information section (section 14) or in the review of your GMC Good Medical Practice domains (section 16).

Part 2: Supervision

What do we mean by Supervision?

‘Supervision’ here refers to the regular 1:1 meetings that you have had with a supervisor or manager. They are common for substantive non-training roles (and in particular psychiatry) and provide a combination of learning, review of progress, and emotional support. They would be similar to the 1:1 meetings you have with your educational supervisor or clinical supervisor during training, though in hospital specialties they are generally less frequent (i.e. monthly or quarterly rather than weekly).

Supervision should be regularly provided in substantive roles (i.e. training, clinical fellowships, and trust grade positions) as part of your contract of employment.

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What if I am not in a substantive role?

What does supervision entail?

It involves a 1:1 meeting with a supervisor on a regular basis (the frequency of this depends on the contract) to:

  • check in with your PDP goals and address any blocks that are preventing you from achieving these goals.
  • discuss cases and get learning from your supervisor
  • support your emotional wellbeing

How do I evidence supervision?

You or your supervisor should be creating written records of these meetings, including:

  • what is discussed
  • what the outcomes of the discussion were
  • an action plan to move forward
  • a proposed date for your next meeting

You both should retain a copy of this record after the meeting.

Supervision template and worked example

Where should I upload my supervision on the MAG form?

There is no specific section on the MAG to upload supervision. You can include it as evidence of CPD (section 7) or in the additional information section (section 14), in the review of your GMC Good Medical Practice domains (section 16), or not at all if you feel it is unnecessary. It may be useful to include if you are not struggling to meet your PDP goals in a substantive post, to show that you have discussed this with your supervisor in advance of your appraisal.

How do I record my supervision in my physical portfolio?

In your portfolio, you should keep all of your supervision grouped by role or position.

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👉  Worked Example
  • F4 clinical fellowship role in Neurosurgery

    • As this is your most recent position, it should be filed further front in your portfolio. Keep your supervision documents in reverse chronological order (most recent first)

  • F3 - F4 part-time position in Research

    • Even though this position spans both F3 and F4 years, it should be kept separate from the others two roles. Keep your supervision documents in reverse chronological order (most recent first)

  • F3 trust grade role in Neurology

    • As this is the oldest position and is no longer an active role, this should be filed further back in your portfolio. Keep your supervision documents in reverse chronological order (most recent first)

Supervision blank template.pdf