Clinical education: the supervisory process

This investigation of the supervisory process was designed to extend the first author's (MMcG) previous work that had resulted in categories for analysis of clinical competence in student therapists. The supervisory interactions between five students and their clinicians were video-taped and analysed. Participants' perceptions of the dyad were rated using visual analogue scales. The findings indicated that clinicians' verbal comments could be assigned to the categories previously identified. A further analysis of three of these categories revealed that seven interview strategies were used by the clinicians in the process of supervision. Supervisors appeared to be more accurate in estimating the extent of students' participation in the conference whereas students tended to make a more realistic estimation of the level of positive feedback. Pointers for future research are suggested.