The education of those who care for the health of the population has always been a matter of concern. In medical education, the figure of the experienced professional helping to educate and qualify a new generation is a constant finding. Such a professional has been given different names, preceptor, supervisor, tutor and mentor being the most common among them. Even official documents fail to clearly specify which functions, interventions, and activities each denomination entails. We thus aimed to analyze the meaning of these different denominations as used by the national and international scientific communities. Starting with the analysis of the concept each term expresses, we intend to build up a better framework for the regulation and practice of the teaching-learning process in the graduation and post-graduation courses in the health professions.

Revista Brasileira de Educação Médica

Print version ISSN 0100-5502

Rev. bras. educ. med. vol.32 no.3 Rio de Janeiro July/Sept. 2008

doi: 10.1590/S0100-55022008000300011

REVISÃO

Preceptor, supervisor, tutor and mentor: what are their roles?

Sérgio Henrique de Oliveira Botti; Sérgio Rego

Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

It would be better if the full-time academic also has the Clinical Lab Scientist license to serve as the Co-Supervisor. Then this person would understand the practical sense between clinical lab testing and science to supervise the lab personnel. Meanwhile, the lab staff will benefit from the strong scientific background of the Co-Supervisor to apply to their lab tasks, such as performing QC calibration of the instrument, understanding the scientific principles behind clin lab testing, ordering the appropriate lab pipette and etc.

For a practitioner, supervision may be very easy as compared to the non-practitioner. The clinician may assign the students to collect patients` history data which will help both the students and the supervisor to carry out a survey research on some specific issues. In this way the supervision process will not hinder routine work of the supervisor. Rather the summarized history taken by the students will help the practitioner in examination and treatment of the patients. In case of practical research, supervisor may involve the student in clinical procedures and the data collected so far may constitute research part and be later on published as thesis.

Dr Shoaib's suggestion is fine. A practitioner will be more able to supervise original researches than non-practitioners. research questions originated while practice cane be taken as topics for the projects in which students can also contribute in data collection or case studies. it may be beneficial for both the clinician as well as students.

Dear Jonathan

I assume you have gone through the same experience being a student of medicin and you know exactly what is right and what isn´t. Be consistent to your practical learning and copy the best things that had functioned to you and avoid the others.

This is the main idea when teaching , the doable mechanisms are perfectly described for the other unselfish responding people.

Knowledge sharing is needed and beneficial for humanity as well as advancement for researches. The only thing is, it should be ethical,

I will just talk about a practice is monitored, as a student teacher.

Before attending the practice, must submit a plan or a research paper sheet in his students. For example if prior to the detected bad spelling practice in the use of certain consonants clearly stated in the plan, which perform activities that allow observation to ensure the existence of the problem, the magnitude, of ot. What students have it.

Also that reedem evidence to prove its existence which queries made, what kind of statiscal knowlwdge used to demostrate the degree of truth in the existence of the problem. Delivered a report of his observations, which demostrate the progress made in their comments.

For example, could have done a dictation, containing this consonants, collecting the work of his students. Could develop a game. Could question about use of rules or misuse of this and record comments. In consequence, we get the items to make the report.

I'm pedagoge, so I´m sure this is very difficult to aply in medical practices you requered. but this is what I can share.

Sorry for my mistakes english writing. I hope you can understand to me.

As stated earlier, involvement of students in clinical research is the best way to educate science graduates amidst clinical practice. this also underpins continuous learning process of clinician him/herself.

The basics of adult learning principles are hardly ever applied in medical teaching. Group works, projects etc., in addition to traditonal methods would help

This is an important aspect of teaching.However the Medical Teacher should devote his maximum time to the academics to transfer his practical knowledge to the students, trainees and junior colleagues.The active clinical practice is important for his livelihood as well as for his academic grooming. Moreover our academic institutions can not employ senior teachers who will work for round the clock.

It depends also on the control of administration on the teaching staff of the institution.

Scientific generation justify any situation from a definite reasonable point of view. Science graduates are committed to the mankind to serve by their utmost effort. This effort is subjected to synchronize the practical knowledge and the proper application. This is basically an insight which renders the science graduate to serve for the humanity. When humanity is served,he or she will be served reciprocally. Now development of blemishless aptitude is only achieved when there is a devoted guide. In such cases the devoted guide can only be a senior clinician. Undoubtedly honesty of such senior clinicians are always been guaranteed. The senior clinician is supervising him/here from the commencement of the clinical classes and training. A down-to-earth personality of a clinician can only be able to elicit the exact traits of his/her trainees.A regular exchanges of thoughts of ideas about patients,societies,environments and other facts between the supervisor and the graduate is nothing but a tactful development of a psychological bridge. So competent,honest,devoted senior clinician is the only option for supervision of science graduates.

Jonathan - you don't mention the profession in which you are a clinical practitioner, or what subjects are included in the science students' degree syllabus. What are the parameters of your supervision - clinical experience, research guidance ...? Knowing these factors would help to offer a more informed response to your question.

Thanks David,

I am a surgical neurophysiologist. The student is doing a basic neuroscience project for a PhD.

Jonathan - There are the issues of legal and academic responsibility. I assume that your student is not expected or seeking to get “hands on” experience in surgical practice or procedures, otherwise, as clinical responsibility lies with you, any mistakes he makes would be on your head, including legal action by aggrieved patients. Regarding academic responsibility, his university is culpable for both his doctoral supervision and his behaviours in placement. The university will probably have independent insurance for any of their students who are in professional placemenst – a surgical one, in your case.

Therefore, all you can do is to point the student in the right direction with respect to surgical practice and the neurological questions that poses, with respect to both the contribution of neurology to surgery and the more challenging theoretical conundrums practice highlights. It is the responsibility of the student and the university to fit around your work environment and its professional demands. While you obviously wish to make the student’s placement a valuable learning experience for her/him, you should avoid letting your concern to provide that interfere in any way with your duty of care to your patients, which is paramount.

I hope this doesn’t sound too patronising, but, as a psychologist, this is a recurring problem for my colleagues in clinical practice. University staff, focused on their own research demands, too often expect professionals in clinical placement to do their academic jobs for them. Clinicians need to protect themselves from that.

Incidentally, what is the title of the student’s proposed doctoral thesis?

This sounds like a multi-tasking professsion. I believe the answer is simple- time management. I suggest you divide and separate your time schedule dedicated for the academics and separate it from your time schedule dedicated for your clinical practice. Realistically this can be very difficult, since both endeavors require outmost full attention and dedication to details.

Yes it is correct that this is just a management problem.

This seems like a good question for your department chair and/or your human resources group at your institution. Does your job description or faculty appointment specify any allocations of time...example 10% FTE for grad student supervision? This would help determine how many hours per week are available for admin tasks. The specifics of the students responsibilities should be mapped over some interval with deliverables due at agreed upon dates or across specified blocks of time. At these milestones, progress in research should be reviewed, other admin duties and progress should be discussed and documented...maybe every 2 weeks...no longer then 4 weeks without a check-in. There may be template plans available from other professors or departments at your organization that could be used as a good starting point.

Who are these science graduate students? Are they medical graduate students? If medical graduate students then why not the topic like this "Does anyone have any suggestions on how to manage the supervision of graduate students in clinical practice?"

Yes.i am a professor and head, dept. Of oral and maxillofacial pathology.

I have a reader and a lecturer.. Both full-time, working under my supervision.

It would not have been possible for me to manage my teaching, my practical classes and all my work in college without them.absolutely not!!!

I do not see any problem. The clinician , with the Practical experience can guide and supervise the science student. The graduate with his/her knowledge of basic science can make better analysis and corelation. Result shall always be useful

As Dean of a faculty of health and sport sciences, and member of our faculty PhD committee, I can say that we see the PhD supervisory role as having two components. One component is administrative hurdle guidance. We believe that the main supervisor for a PhD candidate should when possible be on faculty at the degree giving institution. They can then help the student with the course progression, external committee creation, etc., since they often sit close to the answers and can grease the wheels without expending too much energy. The other component is the research brain power. A co-advisor with a vested interest in the research project who is based at a university hospital or other clinical research setting is highly advantageous. However, we want them to be able to focus on what they are best at...the specific scientific knowledge they bring to the doctoral project and the publication process, not the university formalia.

La pregunta o la traducción no es clara, para lo clínico se sugiere realizar encuestas por grupos.

I agree with all suggestions and i identify most with Stephen Seiler. Both supervisors will complement each other for a balanced output. The onus is on the candidate the get the best out of the supervision.

I have been doing this for the last 18 years. One activity is feeding the other, and now I can not see other way to do it. However, time management is the key! and passion for both!

I would recommend time-tabling supervision into your daily/weekly work. Often half-a-day per week works well (1 day a week evene better), and this allows one to zone in on one's research/supervision obligations. Alternatively, a particular time-slot during each day/specific days of the week might work well.