How to supervise students

Don’t be afraid of supervising students. If you’ve never done it before, consider co-supervising with a more senior colleague / Professor.

Before you take on the role

Establish what the medical school expects of you and the students. The sort of things you may be expected to do include:

• devise a project and apply for ethical approval
• teach the students laboratory skills
• offer feedback on their written work
• review abstracts and posters
• offer feedback on oral presentations
• formally mark written work and oral presentations (it’s a good idea to mark several to get a benchmark or ask to look at marked examples from previous years)

Don’t assume a course hasn’t changed since the year before. Ask for a copy of the course curriculum, aims and objectives, assignment deadlines and marking criteria.

Sometimes pastoral issues may arise within a supervision context. Know who to contact in this situation (usually the course leader who will then involve pastoral teams within the University/medical school). Know who you should contact if one of your students is struggling.

When you supervise the students

• Firstly establish
  
  
  • their background
  • their goals
  • the skills that they want to develop
  • their concerns
  • ground-rules
• Briefly document all meetings.
• Ask your students for feedback so that you can improve.
• Encourage your students to
  
  
  • present their work at conferences e.g. the PathSoc Summer & Winter meetings
  • publish their work
  • apply for prizes and grants
  This is good for both them and you.

Don't forget to include supervision of students on your CV.