The importance of mentoring during educational supervision

Educational supervision is regular supervision taking place in the context of a recognized training programme in order to determine learning needs and review progress. Patel’s article [1] effectively evaluates postgraduate educational supervision in one UK trust. This was a mixed methods study in which educational supervisors and trainees working within a large UK trust were surveyed online about their experiences of educational supervision. In addition, observations of supervision sessions with a small group of supervisor and trainee pairs followed up by semi-structured interviews were conducted. The findings suggested methods to improve educational supervision and a framework was developed [1]. The framework illustrates the need to improve student support during educational supervision [1]. This commentary explores the importance of mentoring during educational supervision. A mentorship is a fortuitous relationship that fosters the development of the adult learner [2]. Educational supervision offers the unique opportunity to be an effective mentor to the student. The mentoring can be informal or more formal within the scheduled supervision meetings. Mentoring should be recognized as an important teaching activity [3]. During the initial educational supervision meetings, it is important to establish an effective relationship with the leaner and provide feedback on their current progress before offering specific guidance. Effective feedback is non-judgmental, timely and accompanied by reflection to help the learner improve [4]. The educational supervisor can then provide specific guidance to enhance academic, professional and personal development.