The survey population

Doctors in training who are in GMC approved training posts on the census date are included in the survey. This includes:

• Foundation trainees
• Core trainees
• Higher specialty training including specialist registrars and GP trainees (Public health and Pharmaceutical medicine trainees received a separate survey)
• Fixed term specialty training appointment (FTSTA) trainees
• Locum appointment for training (LAT) trainees
• Military trainees
• Trainees in clinical lecturer and academic clinical fellowship posts
• Out of programme trainees (OOPT) on an approved programme in the UK
• Post-CCT training towards a subspecialty
• Trainees working for non-NHS organisations, eg occupational medicine, palliative medicine and pharmaceutical medicine
• Doctors who are not in training on the census date, for example doctors on maternity leave or who have been awarded their CCT, are not included in the survey.

All named postgraduate clinical and educational supervisors in the UK are eligible to take the trainer survey (Public health and Pharmaceutical medicine trainers were surveyed independently).

Clinical supervisors oversee a trainee's clinical work throughout a placement. They give feedback during the placement and provide a review of the trainee's performance to help educational supervisors decide if the trainee progresses to the next stage of their training.

Educational supervisors are responsible for the overall supervision and management of a trainee's development during a placement or series of placements. They help the trainee plan their training, achieve agreed learning outcomes and bring together all relevant evidence to determine if the trainee progresses to the next stage of their training.