Educational supervision

Educational Supervision is the process used to monitor your progress in training, to identify development needs and to ensure you have the right level of support.

Your educational supervisor is looking to make sure sure you are making good progress in all areas of the MRCGP.

It is also a forward-looking process, to help you plan, where the ES will help you discover further educational needs and develop a plan for the next training period.

Your ES will be able to see and read everything in your ePortfolio except your personal library.

Our GP Training Scheme Administrator should have notified you with contact details. Your ES name is also on you ePortfolio.

Try not to confuse your Clinical Supervisor with your Educational Supervisor.   

• The Clinical Supervisor oversees your day to day work and will change with each change of post.  
• Your Educational Supervisor oversees your progress throughout training and will usually remain the same person throughout your 3 year training period.  Their aim is to keep you on track for training and help you identify and meet your learning needs

There will be one ES meeting every 6 months. If you’re an ST1 in your very first post, we expect you to have TWO ES meetings during that post – an initial meeting so you can both get to know each other and a more formal one at the end.

ES is a mandatory. Your ARCP can’t happen without it. Please note: it is the trainee’s responsibility to get in touch with their Educational Supervisor and arrange a meeting (not the other way around).

• Book your ES meeting as soon as you get notification from us about when it needs to be done.    
• Complete any missing/outstanding items from your previous ES meeting or last ARCP (look at the ARCP form)  e.g. WPBA, PDPs, OOH etc.
• Upload your Form R – and detail any serious complaints and incidents.
• Ask your CS to do the CSR.
• Please ensure there is a completed “The ESR Workbook” which has been upload it to your learning log under the section “Professional Conversation” with the title “The ES Workbook”.
• Make sure you have the right number of CBDs, COTs/Mini-CEXs. The assessments should also show competence levels appropriate to your stage of training and demonstrate progression and improvement over time.
• If you need to complete an MSF and PSQ make sure it is done in time for your to review the results.
• Make sure you are making good progress with your CEPS.
• Make sure you have a good number of log entries. Be certain to make sure that there is a variety of entries (like clinical encounters, professional conversations, audit/projects, significant events etc).
• Your entries need to show a good depth of reflection and analysis- like focusing on your own attitudes, ethics and core values as well as the knowledge and skills domains.   Remind your trainer or Clinical Supervisor (e.g. hospital consultant) to read AND map them to the Professional Capabilities. (N.B. Trainees map to Curriculum Headings, Trainers map to Professional Capabilities).
• Make sure you are using your PDP – and making the most of it. This should list identified learning needs, realistic ways to meet them, and show that some of them have been met.
• Use an ARCP checklist form to ensure all is in order.
• Make sure that your own self ratings of your capabilities are complete and signed off a few days before your ES meeting (which should normally be face-to-face).

• Your learning log entries (checking for a meaningful level of reflection)
  
• Workplace Based Assessments – COTs, CBDs, Mini-CEXs, MSFs, PSQs and CEPS.
• How well you have covered the GP Curriculum.
  
• The 13 Professional Capabilities – making sure you are gradually gathering more evidence for each of them.
  
• Checking your engagement in Urgent Unscheduled Care and how you’re performing in relation to the Capabilities.
  
• Checking what your Clinical Supervisor has to say in their report (the CSR).
  
• Making sure you’ve engaged in a Quality Improvement Programme, Leadership Activity and Prescribing Assessment as required.
• Looking at any mandatory training requirements like Level 3 Safeguarding.
  
• Checking your PDP and whether you have achieved the aims.

Requirements for WPBA are different for each training year. Check on the link.

RCGP page on Which WPBA and numbers (scroll to the bottom)

The ES Workbook is basically a very simple mapping tool that has been developed by some GP Trainers to HELP you. We strongly advise you to use it and upload it to your ePortfolio. It will make your life and the Educational Supervisor’s life easier. It is very difficult for you to demonstrate capability in unscheduled and urgent care without completing the final page of the workbook.

We also strong recommend trainees use something called “The ES Checklist” to ensure they have got everything in order prior their ES meeting. The ES meeting will take about 2-3 hours. If you haven’t done the preparation work, it will be difficult for both you and your Educational Supervisor and the meeting will end up taking longer.