FOUR PILLARS OF CLINICAL SUPERVISION: AN INSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE

Nel C1, Korkie E1, Lubbe I2, Mostert K11University of Pretoria, Physiotherapy, Pretoria, South Africa, 2University of Pretoria, Education Innovation, Pretoria, South AfricaBackground: Successful work-integrated-learning (WIL) in physiotherapy is impossible without the valuable inputs and contributions made by the clinical supervisors at the healthcare institutions. These clinical supervisors are qualified Physiotherapists employed by a clinical site and formally appointed to assist with the clinical accompaniment and supervision of the undergraduate Physiotherapy students. Training these students would be impossible without this collaborative partnership. In 2018, during informal discussions between clinical supervisors and faculty members of the Physiotherapy department at the University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa, the clinical supervisors articulated a need for continuous professional development (CPD), especially on the didactics of clinical supervision.Purpose: To ensure standardisation and to address the voiced CPD-need, faculty members from the Physiotherapy Department and the School's Education Consultant presented a series of clinical supervision workshops to equip the clinical supervisors with knowledge and skills as it relates to ethical conduct, clinical accompaniment, teaching and assessment.Methods: To collect data, a descriptive qualitative design was utilised. The Knowledge café or World café method was used and participants had to discuss a specific (unique) question related to clinical supervision at each of the three stations. Their responses were captured in images, words and symbols. As the participants rotated, they were confronted with a new question at each station.. After the rotation, the anchor at each station was asked to share and summarize their conclusions referring to the words, symbols and/or drawings. After the session, the researchers analysed the Qualitative data thematically and extracted specific categories, themes and sub-themes.Results: From the clinical supervisors' data four categories emerged. It was evident that clinical supervision is balanced on four pillars [categories], namely the clinical supervisor, the students, the immediate clinical setting / environment and the Higher education institution. The clinical supervisor should exhibit specific personal attributes to enable facilitation of learning. There was however also expectations from the clinical supervisors as it related to the other stakeholders in this partnership. They expected the students to be diligent, communicate in a certain manner and to maintain a professional relationship with the supervisor. The Higher Education institution should provide structure, guidelines (objectives and outcomes for clinical training) and support while the clinical environment should be conducive to allow optimal learning to take place. The clinical supervisors also proposed strategies such as peer evaluation, knowledge sharing and online group discussions to optimize learning. Debriefing/reflective conversations between students and supervisors) and rewards for students also emerged as a theme as well as the possibility of supervisors fulfilling the role of life-mentors or coaches.Conclusion(s): For optimal, effective clinical supervision to take place, all 4 pillars in this partnership should be securely cemented and carry an equal load (responsibility).Implications: With this information, the clinical supervisors will be able to enhance work-integrated learning and in so-doing, prepare the students for entering the world of work after graduating.Keywords: Clinical supervision, Continuous professional development, EducationFunding acknowledgements: This project was not fundedTopic: Education: clinical; Education: continuing professional developmentEthics approval required: NoInstitution: N/AEthics committee: N/AReason not required: The workshop was presented to fulfill a need for continuous professional education for clinical supervisors. When researchers analyzed the data they discover innovative strategies and ideas that should be shared. The participants were informed that the results might be used and all participants gave verbal consent.All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.