Distance education. Part 4. Supervision of family medicine research at a distance. A formative evaluation.
BACKGROUND
A survey on supervision of research projects was undertaken among current general practitioner students, recent graduates and supervisors of a Masters of Family Medicine degree. The aim was to describe and compare the experience of the three groups and, in particular, to identify the problems associated with distance supervision.


METHODS
A self-administered questionnaire survey was distributed to current students (n = 21), graduates (n = 16) and current supervisors (n = 7).


RESULTS
Forty out of 44 doctors returned completed questionnaires. Distance was a relatively minor barrier to successful supervision, provided that the student and supervisor established good communication patterns and were able to respond to each other with minimal delay. The commencement of the study and its final write-up were critical phases in the supervision process.


CONCLUSIONS
Communication, including emotional and psychological support, was at least as important as expert opinion in helping Masters students to successfully complete their research projects. Attention must be paid to establishing good understanding and regular means of communication at the beginning of the supervisory process.
Schattner
P
P
Department of Community Medicine and General Practice, Monash University.
Piterman
L
L
Laerum
E
E
McCall
L
L
Parer
M
M
D003625:Data Collection; D020375:Education, Distance; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009934:Organization and Administration; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012106:Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014739:Victoria