Supervisory Alliance in Medical Training: Associations with Educational Engagement and Satisfaction

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Psychology of Learning

Background:

• Supervisory alliance, the relationship between supervisor and trainee, is vital in various learning settings but understudied in medical education.
• Understanding factors influencing trainee engagement is key for medical educators.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the association between supervisory alliance and program satisfaction, educational engagement, and career purpose in medical trainees.
• To identify factors that enhance or decrease engagement within a supervisory learning context.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 108 medical trainees from the rural Northeast.
• Anonymous electronic surveys were used to collect data.

Main Results:

• Supervisory alliance was found to independently predict program satisfaction and emotional engagement in learning.
• The strength of the supervisory alliance was a significant predictor of trainees' career purpose.

Conclusions:

• The supervisory alliance plays a critical role in medical learning processes.
• Future interventions could focus on mentorship programs or faculty training to strengthen supervisory relationships and improve learning outcomes.