Educational supervision in internal medicine residency training - a scoping review

Cecilie Normann Birkeli; Camilla Normand; Karin Isaksson Rø; Monika Kvernenes

doi:10.1186/s12909-023-04629-y

Educational supervision in internal medicine residency training - a scoping review

BMC Med Educ. 2023 Sep 7;23(1):644. doi: 10.1186/s12909-023-04629-y.

Authors

Cecilie Normann Birkeli^{1

2}, Camilla Normand^{3

4}, Karin Isaksson Rø⁵, Monika Kvernenes⁶

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Studies of the Medical Profession, P.O. Box 1153, Oslo, NO-0107, Norway. Cecilie.Normann.Birkeli@lefo.no.
² Center for Medical Education, Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. Cecilie.Normann.Birkeli@lefo.no.
³ Department of Quality and Health Technology, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway.
⁴ Department of Internal Medicine, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway.
⁵ Institute for Studies of the Medical Profession, P.O. Box 1153, Oslo, NO-0107, Norway.
⁶ Center for Medical Education, Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.

Abstract

Background: Although supervision is an important part of residency training, its scope and how it relates to other types of support, such as mentoring, precepting and feedback, remain unclear. While clinical supervision consists of ongoing instructions and feedback in the workplace setting, educational supervision is a formalized component of postgraduate medical educational and supports the process that facilitates a trainee's progression throughout their training. Since medical specialties have different supervisory traditions, this study focuses on educational supervision in internal medicine. Our aim was to investigate what is known about educational supervision practices in internal medicine and the role of educational supervision in supporting residents' learning.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review of the literature on educational supervision in residency training in internal medicine based on Levac et al.'s modification of Arksey and O'Malley's six-step framework. The literature search was performed in the following databases: Medline, Embase, Web of Science and the Educational Resources Information Center. In addition, we conducted a handsearch in Medical Teacher and Google Scholar. We followed the PRISMA guidelines for systematic research.

Results: Eighteen of the 3,284 identified articles were included in the analysis. We found few empirical studies describing how educational supervision is conducted and what effect routine educational supervision has on residents' learning. Our findings suggest that the terminology can be confusing and that educational supervision practices in internal medicine has a weak theoretical foundation.

Conclusion: The distinction between educational supervision and other support structures, such as mentoring and feedback, has not been clearly defined in the research literature. We argue that shared terminology is needed to better understand current educational practices and to facilitate clear communication about how to help residents learn.

Keywords: Educational supervision; Internal medicine; Medical education; Postgraduate training; Residents.

Publication types

Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Educational Status
Humans
Internal Medicine
Internship and Residency*
Learning
Mentoring*