Developing a training program to improve supervisor-resident relationships, step 1: Defining the types of issues

Background: By some estimates, the teacher-learner relationship explains ro ughly half of the variance attributed to the effectiveness of teaching. Des pite this, relationships largely have been ignored in the educational liter ature. Purpose: This qualitative pilot study sought to identify factors in the sup ervisor-resident relationship that hinder learning among University of Toro nto psychiatry residents. Method, Thirteen postgraduate-year residents in Years 2-5 and their supervi sors were interviewed regarding interactions that either assisted or advers ely affected learning. Results: Qualitative analysis of the interview data led to the identificati on of 5 types of issues affecting the supervisory, relationship: goals and individual differences, communication and feedback, power and rivalry, supp ort and collegiality and role modeling and expertise. Face validity was sup ported when typed anonymous written feedback obtained from annual superviso r evaluations also could be organized into the 5 categories. Conclusions: Recognition of the types of interpersonal interactions that as sist or hinder learning may contribute to enhanced teaching effectiveness. Copyright (C) 2001 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.