The ABIM's clinical supervision practice improvement module and its effect on faculty's supervisory skills

Inadequate supervision of medical trainees hampers education and patient care. The authors examine the use of the American Board of Internal Medicine's Clinical Supervision Practice Improvement Module (CS-PIM) to determine whether it facilitated and enhanced faculty's skills in direct observation, providing feedback, identifying errors, and auditing medical records.

In this descriptive cohort study, module satisfaction was assessed using a five-point Likert scale. Changes in supervisory skills were measured using a retrospective pre-/postmodule self-assessment; deltas were compared by the Wilcoxon signed rank test.

Between March 2009 and October 2010, 644 faculty completed 647 CS-PIMs. Asked how effective the module was for improving their observation and evaluation skills, 91% rated it excellent, very good, or good. Similarly high percentages of the faculty gave those same ratings to the module for facilitating documenting trainee evaluations, documenting feedback to trainees, reflecting on the summary report, developing an improvement plan, and documenting their self-assessment of supervisory skills. Faculty self-reported improved skills in observation, giving feedback, identifying errors, and auditing medical records.

The CS-PIM facilitated and improved faculty skills in the supervision of trainees and led to self-reported changes in supervisory practices. Future research should evaluate trainees' perceptions and the actual impact on quality of care in the teaching setting.