The Role of the Supervisor

Benefits of Supervising

Undertaking supervision can improve your job satisfaction, career prospects and help you reflect on your own clinical practice.

There are many potential benefits to your working life and career, including:

  • Experiencing a greater variety of tasks in your working day
  • The professional satisfaction of helping a fellow clinician grow and develop
  • Helping develop someone else’s skills and knowledge helps you to reflect on your own practice and development
  • Supervising helps you to keep abreast of the latest university education and changes to evidence- based practice
  • Reflecting on your supervising experience can be part of your own CPD plan
  • Participating in the shared responsibility to pass on what you know and help develop the next generation, as expected in the standards for optical students
  • The student may well wish to continue working with you after registration and, if so, you will have helped to improve and strengthen your workplace team
  • Even if they do not remain with you after registration, you will have expanded your future network of professional colleagues
  • You will develop mentoring skills: feedback, observational, questioning and listening skills, to a high level
  • You will acquire a skills base to expand your clinical roles into teaching and academia in the future, if you wish
  • Many people who have not felt a previous desire, or the confidence to supervise, find that they enjoy it once they become involved
  • You can even gain an affix as recognition of your contribution and commitment to educating others by completing the Optometric Practice Educator Affix.

These depend on the person, and everyone may use their own strengths and characteristics in different ways to support a student. However, some general attributes would include professional integrity; a commitment to upholding high standards of practice and care; attention to detail; effective communication skills; patience; passion for training and education; planning and organisational skills; tolerance and empathy.

It will advance your career by giving you experience of new situations and the opportunity to develop your skills. This may be your first experience of managing someone else, for instance, or your first experience of coaching and supporting a trainee. Helping another person to develop will undoubtedly help you to re-examine your own practice and make changes and improvements. Getting involved in managing someone, training and the area of education could well lead to new possibilities for your career if you wish to pursue them and is often extremely rewarding. In short, supervising should enhance your career prospects and your fulfilment as a healthcare professional.

However, especially in the early stages, supervising is likely to impact on your productivity owing to the time required for initial work with the student. Employers are aware of this, those with optometry students do receive a small grant (funding varies by nation across the UK) towards the loss of your ‘chair’ time.

Employers and are also keen to see more optometrists and dispensing opticians entering the sector, they usually therefore agree with you on how this and any required training is to be   handled, so that supervision enhances your career and your employer’s commitment to you without adversely affecting your income or career progression. You should, however, make sure you are clear about your position before you take on a supervising role.

Yes. If you are considering pursuing an academic/teaching career path or are interested in exploring whether you would gain job satisfaction from this area, then supervision would be a safe way to take a first step and find out. People with experience of supervision can become involved in working with students in university eye clinics or as part-time teachers, for example, so it offers the opportunity to explore a potential enhancement or change of career direction, diversification, or academic progression. You do not necessarily need a higher degree to be part of an academic teaching team. Equally, supervision offers great experience for those planning to become an Assessor.

The initial training you do to become a supervisor and any additional training you choose to do after becoming a supervisor should qualify for CPD points.

The GOC does not have a specific education domain for CPD, but all three non-clinical domains can be used by supervisors to log CPD for the work they do with students on an ongoing basis. The leadership and communication domains are particularly relevant to supervision. The College of Optometrists, ABDO and other optical bodies are continuing to discuss improved recognition of the role of supervisors in workforce development, with the GOC.

Supervision provides another skill set and the pleasure of being able to help the next generation.

Quotes from existing supervisors

  • “Having been a supervisor for 17 years, every placement allows me to learn and contribute to the development of future clinicians in our industry. The reward lies in witnessing the emergence of a confident, newly qualified optometrist at the   conclusion of the process. I cherish the relationships established during these placements, which continue.”

“Supervising is such a rewarding experience. Being able to mentor and guide a young optometrist to flourish, to see them grow  from day one to the end of the year. Keeping in touch  following registration to see how they develop is also very satisfying.”

  • “Having supervised several trainee contact lens opticians in recent years, I wouldn’t hesitate to take more students. The process of seeing the trainees develop into skilled and safe practitioners is perhaps the most rewarding part of my job.”

“Being able to share knowledge and see young optometrists grow and flourish and then go onto be superb clinicians, is one of the most rewarding parts of my profession. I have always felt that to teach is to learn twice. With supervision, I am constantly reminded  that learning is a continuous curve of self-development and nurturing.”

  • “The help and support available for students through my employer’s programme are excellent and of the highest standard. This has allowed me as a supervisor to support and guide my students confidently through their assessments. Additionally, for me  personally being a supervisor has enabled me to keep up to date with my clinical knowledge.”

“The sharing of knowledge and skills with my trainee has not only helped shape the next generation of dispensing opticians, but also ensured my own skills are up to date and keeping pace with the advancements in technology. I also now have the greatest pleasure in working alongside my newly qualified colleagues and watching their careers flourish.”

  • “Having been a pre-reg Supervisor in secondary care and now for the past ten years in primary care has not only been enjoyable but also very useful for my own development.”

“With so much change in optometry I find supporting student(s) very useful to keep up to date with technological advances, referral pathways and new ways of working - in particular (without giving away my age) - the way information and education is delivered and supported - is a lot different to when I was a student.”

  • “Being a supervisor has ensured I stay refreshed and up to date with all areas of competence. Giving back to the profession and seeing others develop and succeed from supervising is rewarding. As a supervisor, you sometimes don't realise how much effect and influence you have. Supervising has also developed my leadership/coaching skills, which helps me within optics and outside optics.”

“Being a supervisor teaches you qualities of coaching and forward planning that are invaluable for future career development. There is a lot to be gained from increasing interaction with other optometrists who are also supervisors and by gaining inspiration from their career paths.”

  • “Supervision provides another skill set and the pleasure of being able to help the next generation.”

“Becoming a supervisor is a great opportunity to develop your training and leadership skills. You'll be able to use your knowledge more effectively and pass it on to the future workforce. It's not only rewarding but also helps you stay on top of your skills.”

  • “Supervision can sound daunting at first but there is a lot of support in place to aid first time supervisors i.e. the CPD training days. Also, there are online resources available to help throughout. It's very rewarding to be able to shape the pre-reg into developing good habits/skills which will help them throughout their whole career. Supervision means being a supportive coach, not a teacher who knows absolutely everything about optometry!”

“One of the main things that attracted me to being a supervisor was the ability to offer the tips and guidance in the way that I found most beneficial during my time as a student and be able to contribute positively to that process.”

  • “Pleasure of being able to help the next generation and refreshed my memory! There are plenty of support mechanisms within the group to help you through it. And it can be fun seeing how you can help a trainee piece all the pieces of the jigsaw together.”