All training with the College must be supervised. Trainees may nominate their own supervisor and are required to submit his/her name on the initial and annual registration forms.
The supervisor of laboratory training will normally be a Fellow of the College, however another supervisor may be accepted if there is no Fellow available to offer appropriate supervision. Non-Fellows must have their role approved by the Board of Censors.
Normally, only one supervisor is nominated. If the Trainee spends significant periods working in an area where the supervisor has no personal involvement, the supervisor must certify that suitable supervision is being provided. The supervisor must also ensure that adequate supervision is arranged in their absence. Supervision should not be predominantly delegated to a non-pathologist.
In some circumstances shared supervision may be necessary, but there must be a nominated primary supervisor. For Trainees working towards higher academic degrees (e.g. PhD), the research project supervisor may not be suitable for nomination as an RCPA supervisor.
Supervisors are asked to provide:
- a prospective training (or research) program,
- on initial registration and annually an annual supervisor’s report or, for rotations within a year,
- reports which cover the period of training
- confirmation on the examination application form of the Trainee’s experience and readiness.
See Supervisors' Reports for further information
Supervisors are expected to assist Trainees to develop their individual training objectives and to provide structured feedback of performance on a regular basis. For this reason, the College recommends that any one supervisor be responsible for no more than two Trainees.
Click here for a copy of the Policy on Supervision
Click here for the Induction Manual for Supervisors
Click here for guideline for Selection of Trainees.
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