A toolkit for trainer appraisal and development

All GPs are required to undergo formal revalidation and appraisal. Revalidation and re-accreditation assess past performance with a view to licensing future activity. GP trainers have additional responsibilities for delivering high quality education to tomorrow's doctors beyond those of a GP. In order to fulfill this role trainers are required to attend re-accreditation courses by their local educational establishments and will have different needs to those of their doctor role. Course organizers have responsibilities that include the organisation and assurance of quality of the training provided by their scheme. Although there are no absolute definitions of good quality teaching, it is widely accepted that proxy measures for both consulting and teaching are important and definable. In the case of teaching registrars, these include provision for welcoming, inducting and informing new registrars, assessing their needs, and providing a climate in which they can flourish, as well as actually teaching them. This toolkit explores a system of appraisal designed to help trainers achieve these tasks efficiently, using structured feedback from registrars as well as the trainers' own reports as a basis for discussion during an appraisal interview. It contains some hints for interviewers and comments on the likely issues to emerge, as well as the basic tools needed to conduct the process. The toolkit can be adapted for local use. It has been well received by the trainers, and refined in the light of their feedback.