Appendix 17: Student supervision Policy

Background and Purpose

Faculty are responsible for appropriate supervision of SGUSOM students who are participating in required hospital visits, clerkships or elective clinical courses, as well as interactions with standardized patients

Scope

This policy applies to all faculty involved in the supervision of SGUSOM students.

Policy statement

This policy was developed to define the responsibilities of faculty in relation to supervision of students in the School of Medicine, at St. George’s University.

Policy

1. Medical students should receive supervision from the most appropriate clinical faculty member in relation to the procedure, field and/or type of patient care.
2. Faculty should not leave students unsupervised during provision of care or while the student is performing procedures.
3. Faculty who are responsible for the supervision of SGUSOM students must either hold a faculty appointment with SGUSOM or should themselves be supervised in their teaching and assessment role by an individual who holds such a faculty appointment.
   1. Supervision should be for those clinical activities that are within the scope of expertise or practice of the supervising faculty member.
   2. Supervision of students can be direct, where the faculty member is physical present with the student, or secondary, where the faculty member supervising is immediately available but not in the direct presence of the student while care is being provided.
4. The determination of the level of supervision needed for a student, i.e., direct or secondary, will be based on:
   1. the student’s training level
   2. previous observations and determination of student experience and skills in relation to a given activity and setting
   3. direct knowledge of the supervisor in relation to the skills of the student
   4. skill level inherent to the procedure
   5. acuteness of need for performance of said procedure or care
   6. evaluation of level of risk to the patient
5. Clerkship directors and course directors (CDs) assign students to designated faculty supervisors for all clinical experiences and must communicate these assignments to the faculty, residents, and students
6. Department chairs are responsible for overseeing that the CDs perform the assignment and communication as described in 5. above.
7. Under specific clinically and educationally appropriate circumstances, the supervising faculty may delegate supervision to another appropriate healthcare providers, e.g., nurses, residents or physician assistants.
8. It is the responsibility of each supervising physician to first ensure that the individuals to whom the supervision is delegated are working within their expertise, prior to identifying which learning experiences can be delegated.

Paraphrased From

• UCSF: https://meded.ucsf.edu/policies-procedures/clinical-supervision-medical-students
• https://www.omed.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/policy_on_clinical_supervision.pdf

Policy summary

All SGUSOM students must be appropriately supervised by a qualified clinical faculty member, for all clinical activities during which patient care is being provided. CDs are responsible for assigning the faculty responsible for the supervision of students during their clinical experiences.