Tools: Evaluating Clinical Mentors
The goal of some programs may be to develop clinical mentors. Clinical mentors must have a combination of clinical knowledge and skills, as well as strong communication and training skills. Someone may be an excellent clinician but not a very good clinical mentor, either because he or she is uncomfortable making suggestions to colleagues or because the way he or she makes suggestions induces resentment and resistant among the people he or she is mentoring. Conversely, someone may have excellent training and communication skills, but not have the clinical expertise to provide good guidance to the colleagues they are mentoring. The checklist below was designed to guide observation of clinical mentoring knowledge and skills. The required score in each of the categories in order for a practitioner to become a clinical mentor might vary in different contexts.
- MD Mentor Evaluation
- File Type:
- Word Document
- Pages:
- 3
A checklist for observing a physician training to be a clinical mentor. Topics include professional and interpersonal skills, assessment and patient management and care plan. The tool includes space to record suggestions given to the TOT for improvement.
- Nurse Mentor Evaluation
- File Type:
- Word Document
- Pages:
- 2
This tool was designed to assess the skills of nurse mentors. Before using this tool, the clinical skills of the nurse would already have to have been assessed.
Debriefing Clinical Mentors
Talking to clinical mentors about what they've observed during their visit can be a great source of information. This is especially true if the clinical mentors are not using any kind of a skills checklist or other systematic form for reporting. The interviewing or debriefing session should include questions about the trainees, their facilities, and about the structure or support of the clinical mentoring visit.
- Debriefing Questions for Clinical Training
- File Type:
- Word Document
- Pages:
- 1
Designed for a mentor to use following a mentoring session, this document asks the mentor to think about what they observed and recommended during the session. Using this document consistently over a lengthy mentoring arrangement will be helpful in monitoring changes made over time and formulating a plan for next steps.
Classroom Based Training Evaluation
Classroom based trainings may form part of a clinical mentoring session. For example, you might decide to provide an hour long session on the interactions of TB and HIV before the onsite practice begins at the TB clinic. Or, a clinical mentor may want to put together a session based on particular problems observed in practice. The following are some evaluation tools that can be used to evaluate classroom based sessions.
- Group Activity Observation Form
- File Type:
- Word Document
- Pages:
- 2
A form used to guide an observation of a group activity. This form provides a template for identifying the learning objectives of the exercise, how participants interacted, how the trainer handled any confusion, the collaborative work of the group, time allotted, and the outcome of the activity.
- Daily Evaluation Form
- File Type:
- Word Document
- Pages:
- 1
This form may be used at the completion of a day of training, or be modified to be used following a mentoring session. The form asks for trainee feedback on the training experience: enjoyment, confusion, value, applicable knowledge and skills. This tool is particularly useful for multiple-day trainings.
- Presentation Skills Checklist
- File Type:
- Word Document
- Pages:
- 1
Using a simple checklist format, this form allows participants to quickly and specifically evaluate their presenter's delivery, content, visual aids and body language.
- Trainer Debriefing Guide
- File Type:
- Word Document
- Pages:
- 1
This is a brief questionnaire to guide trainers through a post-class or post-session debriefing. This tool will help trainers take a look at how the training session or workshop went. There are six basic categories, e.g., what did and did not work, understanding of clinical components, and group/individual participation.