Every six months interns are given verbal and written feedback about their progress in the competency areas listed under the objectives of the internship program. Evaluations include feedback from outreach, supervision of supervision, and group seminar facilitators, Area of Focus supervisor, group supervisors, and individual clinical supervisors. Interns and the Training Director provide comments on these evaluations. Interns are asked to provide feedback and evaluation of their seminar facilitators, supervisors, and Training Director at the end of the training year. All evaluations from the mid-year and end-of-year are shared with the internās home department and are placed in the internās training file. The Training Director will provide an overview letter to the internās home departmentās Director of Clinical Training, along with copies of the internās evaluations at the mid-year and end-of-year.
Individual clinical supervisors provide overall feedback on the internās performance, using the Intern Performance Evaluation form. This form includes evaluation of the primary areas of competency outlined in the Internship Overview, Professional Competencies section. It also includes feedback provided to the individual supervisor by all members of staff involved in training. Prior to the evaluation period, senior staff meet to discuss their experiences with each intern, to identify strengths and weaknesses, growth areas, and goals for training. Information from this meeting and from all evaluations is shared with the intern by the relevant supervisor or seminar facilitator.
Mid-way through each semester, training staff will meet to discuss intern progress and interns will be given informal, verbal feedback by their primary supervisor based on the recommendations of the staff at that time. If a problem or concern is identified, feedback may be documented in writing. Copies of this feedback will be placed in the internās training file, and the home program may be contacted if this level of intervention is warranted.
Any concerns about an internās progress is first discussed with the intern. If a supervisor feels that a concern is not being addressed adequately, the Training Director is involved and will work with all interested parties in determining the next course of action. This may include a period of more intensive supervision, consultation with the training committee, or consultation with the Director. We try to make this process as transparent as possible to the intern, while also protecting the internās privacy. Please see the Clinical Training Policy and Procedures manual for additional information about remediation processes.
The supervisor and intern discuss written evaluations prior to their submission to the Training Director and before inclusion in the intern's file. Any evaluation report must be signed by the individual supervisor and the intern. The intern's signature on the document does not necessarily reflect agreement with the content, but rather that the document has been presented to the intern. The intern may provide a written reaction to the evaluation report. The evaluation report and any additional material must be submitted to the Training Director for inclusion in the intern's file.
Interns are expected to evaluate their individual supervisors at the end of each semester. A one-hour exit interview with the Training Director is scheduled at the end of the year for interns to have the opportunity to express feedback about the strengths and weaknesses of the internship program itself. Intern feedback will be shared with supervisors and staff following the completion of the internship year.
