What makes a good educational supervisor?

The author reviewed the previous literature describing the essential qualities and skills required of a trainer, now called educational supervisor, in a UK general practice setting. Those qualities are described in various ways and in various groupings. However, the broad categories of personal attributes and attitudes, communication skills including IT, educational knowledge, and educational skills encapsulate the majority of them. In Scotland in 2007 a group of medical educationalists made changes to a national prospective trainers' course to reflect changes in GP specialist training. In the new course participants deliver much of the teaching on the last two units of the course. By so doing, they demonstrate competence in 12 competency areas derived from the GP specialist trainee medical competencies of workplace-based assessment. That competence is summatively assessed by the course facilitators at the end of the course. The enthusiasm and energy of the participants that derives from this commitment to active participation in learning and teaching, against observable competency areas, is an endorsement of an innovation in course design. It may prove a helpful model for other parts of the UK.