Recognition of Trainers: Standards and Guidance

The GMC has in place arrangements for the formal recognition and approval of Clinical and Educational Supervisors which requires HEE NW to be responsible for recognising trainers and forwarding these to the GMC for approval.

Trainees must be supervised by fully recognised trainers. In HEE NW all Consultants and SAS Doctors who supervise trainees must be recognised at least as Clinical Supervisors. This includes those working with trainees on call, at nights, weekends, in operating theatres or in outpatients etc.  Trainees do not need recognition as trainers, though they can gain the qualifications and documents to give them recognition when awarded CCT.

Consultants and SAS Doctors can be Educational Supervisors.

Training Model

  

How to become a recognised trainer

To be recognised as a Clinical or Educational Supervisor, trainers are required to document evidence against the domains set out by the Academy of Medical Educators (AoME) in the Professional Standards for Medical Educators, to demonstrate their engagement in educational activity.  These are:

Clinical  Supervisor

 Domain Educational Supervisor
Tick 1. Ensuring safe and effective patient care Tick
Tick 2. Establishing and maintaining an environment for learning Tick
Tick 3. Teaching and facilitating learning Tick
Tick 4. Enhancing learning through assessment Tick
  5. Supporting and monitoring educational progress Tick
  6. Guiding personal and professional development Tick
Tick 7. Continuing professional development as an educator Tick

 

How to gain recognition - new consultants / trainers

To become fully recognised as a Trainer, evidence against domains 1-4 and 7 for Clinical Supervisors and 1-7 for Educational Supervisors should be submitted for approval by the Director of Medical Education (DME).

To meet HEE NW requirements, evidence across the required domains can be collected in either one of the following ways:

  • By attending a taught course that is externally accredited and DME-approved, which prepares supervisors fully for the trainer role; or
  • By separately acquiring one piece of evidence against each domain from a variety of sources.

For the first route, most Royal Colleges run Trainer Recognition courses, with completion of module 1 (CPD4706) of the PGCert in Workplace Based Medical Education at Edge Hill University satisfying the requirement to be recognised as a clinical supervisor and module 2 (CPD4707) for the educational supervisor role. Other accredited courses are available.

 

How to retain recognition – previously recognised trainers

In Trusts across HEE NW maintenance of Trainer Recognition is via the annual appraisal process.

To maintain recognition trainers are required to show at annual appraisal at least one piece of evidence covering domain 7 (educational CPD) each year.  There must be three separate types of domain 7 (educational CPD) evidence in any five-year period.

As well as activity in domain 7 each year (see above), over the five-year recognition period trainers must present one piece of evidence from each of domains 1 – 4 for Clinical Supervisor (CS) and 1 – 6 for Educational Supervisor (ES). This may be achieved by either:

  • Attendance at a refresher course; or
  • Acquired gradually and separately from a variety of sources. (N.B. A significant CPD event may also provide evidence against other domains, in addition to domain 7).  

For examples of evidence per domain please see key documents section below.

 

Trust responsibilities

Trusts/LEPs are responsible for ensuring that all their trainers are appropriately trained to be either a Clinical Supervisor or Educational Supervisor.

 

Key documents

  • Guidance

Health Education England North West policy on SAS Doctors as Named Clinical and Educational Supervisors
SAS Doctors as Named CS_ES 0222 (docx)

  • Evidence

Examples of evidence per domain can be found in the following document:
Guidance on Evidence for Trainers for Appraisal (pdf)

  • Summary of domain activity for use at annual appraisal and revalidation

Educational Activity Summary (docx)

For further information about Clinical and Educational Supervisor and Trust Specialty Training Lead roles please click on the icons below:

Clinical Supervisor Button     Educational Supervisor     Trust Specialty Training Lead

Information about job planning and appraisals can be found by clicking on the icons below:

Job Planning Button     Appraisal Button