Self-reported needs for improving the supervision competence of PhD supervisors from the medical sciences in Denmark

BACKGROUND: Quality of supervision is a major predictor for successful PhD projects. A survey showed that almost all PhD students in the Health Sciences in Denmark indicated that good supervision was important for the completion of their PhD study. Interestingly, approximately half of the students who withdrew from their program had experienced insufficient supervision. This led the Research Education Committee at the University of Copenhagen to recommend that supervisors further develop their supervision competence. The aim of this study was to explore PhD supervisors’ self-reported needs and wishes regarding the content of a new program in supervision, with a special focus on the supervision of PhD students in medical fields. METHODS: A semi-structured interview guide was developed, and 20 PhD supervisors from the Graduate School of Health and Medical Sciences at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen were interviewed. Empirical data were analysed using qualitative methods of analysis. RESULTS: Overall, the results indicated a general interest in improved competence and development of a new supervision programme. Those who were not interested argued that, due to their extensive experience with supervision, they had no need to participate in such a programme. The analysis revealed seven overall themes to be included in the course. The clinical context offers PhD supervisors additional challenges that include the following sub-themes: patient recruitment, writing the first article, agreements and scheduled appointments and two main groups of students, in addition to the main themes. CONCLUSIONS: The PhD supervisors reported the clear need and desire for a competence enhancement programme targeting the supervision of PhD students at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences. Supervision in the clinical context appeared to require additional competence. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The Scientific Ethical Committee for the Capital Region of Denmark. Number: H-3-2010-101, date: 2010.09.29. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12909-017-1023-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.