Since 1985, approximately 75% of the psychiatry department faculty of a medical school have met every two weeks for a supervisors' conference. The conference was conceived by members of the Residency Education Committee as a way to improve the supervision of psychiatry residents. It has evolved into a study group of supervision and serves as a forum for supervisors to share their methods of supervision. Conference formats range from literature reviews to videotaped observations of supervision. Future directions of the conference are reviewed regularly by conference attendees and by annual surveys of all departmental faculty members.