A fundamental principle of advanced training is that it is carried out under supervision. The supervisor for each year will normally be one of the physicians to whom the trainee is responsible and should have a close working relationship with the trainee for a significant period of the year. Usually, a trainee will have one supervisor each year. If training is undertaken in more than one unit, additional supervisors should be nominated. As the emphasis in advanced training is on education and experience rather than examination, this places a significant responsibility on the supervisor and underlines the importance of the role. The College regularly organises workshops for supervisors of advanced trainees to assist them in their role. Information about the workshops is available from the Executive Officer of the Training Section of the College.

t is necessary for the supervisor to be aware of and sympathetic to the goals of advanced training. The primary role of the supervisor during the year will be to provide formative assessment (feedback on performance). In order to do this, the supervisor should have regular meetings with the trainee, observe the trainee's history taking, and physical examination, discuss with the trainee interpretation of clinical findings, assess the trainee's clinical evaluation of investigative procedures and discuss the care plans and ensure that they are appropriate to the needs of the patient and carer.

The supervisor also has the responsibility to provide summative assessment (formal determination of competence) to the SAC/JSAC at the end of the year or period of training. This report is the College's means of evaluating the trainee's performance and includes comments on each of the eight objectives of advanced training.

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