Quality of clinical supervision as perceived by specialist registrars in a university and district teaching hospital

BACKGROUND Clinical supervision promotes the professional development of specialist registrars (SpRs). Our objective was to investigate and compare the perceived quality of supervision (PQS) in a university teaching hospital (UTH) and a district teaching hospital (DTH) and to identify aspects of supervision that could be improved. METHODS The Cleveland Clinic's teaching effectiveness instrument (CCTEI) was used to measure the quality of supervision of attending doctors. Fifteen items reflecting good teaching ability were rated on a 5-point Likert-scale (1-5 = poor-excellent). RESULTS SpRs rated 47 attending doctors using the CCTEI. A total of 416 ratings were obtained. Overall, the mean PQS was 3.85 (SD = 0.29) in the DTH and 3.56 (SD = 0.44) in the UTH (P = 0.02). A significant difference in PQS was found in 6 items. The supervisors in the DTH scored better on all these items. The best predictor of PQS was the item 'Organises time to allow for both teaching and care giving'. CONCLUSIONS Overall, PQS was better in the DTH compared to the UTH. In both settings, generating a good learning environment and respecting the autonomy of the SpRs scored favourably. Supervisory roles focusing on improving cost-effective practice and communicative skills need more emphasis.