Organisations
Over the next three years you will come across a series of different organisations, all with various roles in your training. Some of these roles inevitably overlap. Over the
next three years it is entirely possible some of these organisations may merge, others
may disappear, and new ones will arrive. Nevertheless, in this section, we shall
attempt to give you an overview of the most important ones.
Deanery
Specialty Training Schemes
Royal College
The deanery has several roles including:-
- delivering the curriculum at a local level
- commissioning the Educational Programme for the Trainee through its
- network of educational providers
- managing the quality of the selection process in collaboration with the National Recruitment Office
- delivery of the Curriculum
- trainers
- training programmes
- educational programmes
- assessments through the course of the training programme
- produce a doctor who is eligible for CCT at the end of the three years training period
- is accountable to PMETB and the Strategic Health Authority
The deanery is thus responsible for organising and delivering your training programme, supervising you through this and ensuring the quality of the programme. The deanery has to deliver training in accordance with the curriculum which has been approved by PMETB. Standards of training are set out in contracts between the deanery and educational providers.
The deanery is also responsible for signing you off at the end of your training programme as having completed your training to the satisfactory standard. The deanery will send its recommendation to the Royal College.
The deanery is responsible for about one thousand trainees across London. This somewhat large number of people is divided into smaller groups called specialty training schemes. Schemes do vary in size but there are twenty eight across London. Each is based at the site of an acute trust and usually uses the name of that trust to identify itself. Each scheme will be run and be organised by Programme Directors and schemes have two or three Programme Directors each. Primary care, secondary care, psychiatric, academic and community posts are normally within the vicinity of the acute trust where the scheme is based.
The schemes normally function very well indeed. The scheme is a constant reference point during your three year programme and though the scheme leaders, the Programme Directors, do come and go, the majority are in post for several years. The Programme Director’s role will be described in more detail later in this document.
The schemes offer a focus of training. The training is usually on a half day release from clinical duties; most schemes additionally incorporate at least one residential programme a year. The Programme Directors (PDs) construct the content of the educational programme for the scheme, most commonly on a termly basis. The schemes use a variety of teaching techniques including specialty lectures, small group work and self directed learning. The PDs will do all they can to ensure the RCGP curriculum is covered during the course of the three years by the clinical rotations. They will assist this process by using the half day release for topic based teaching, for instance on ethics, which may not be covered so well by the clinical specialities themselves.
Besides formal teaching there is a large social element to GP specialty training. This can make learning fun but can also provide the basis for a highly effective mutual support mechanism when problems arise.
It is, more importantly than anything else, the forum where trainees of all grades catch up with what is important. This may be a medical change, such as a severe adverse event, that has resulted in a fundamental change in therapy or interventions. This may be where you suddenly realise, over a coffee break conversation, that you are completely out of touch with the ePortfolio process or another vital aspect of your training and assessment requirements. As daunting and scary as this may be, it is actually far better this way than being out of touch and coming up against the processes of the deanery when incomplete or inadequate submissions have led to some sort of formal proceeding.
Al specialty training scheme groups record attendance and the attendance record may be scrutinised by the deanery and commented upon by the Educational Supervisor in their reports.
It is very much in your interest to make sure you attend all the time.
The RCGP has various roles:-
- it develops the specialty curricula in accordance with principals of training established by PMETB
- the RCGP recommends eligible trainees to PMETB for CCT
- it sets aspirational standards for training over and above those defined by PMETB.
Put as simply as possible the Royal College defines what you need to learn and what skills and competencies you need to acquire in order to satisfy what is expected of being a General Practitioner.
The Royal College has to develop the curriculum in accordance with the standards set by PMETB and have its curriculum approved by PMETB. The Royal College will also look at the quality of the education package being delivered by the deanery and support the quality management of training.
Lastly the Royal College runs the two examinations you need to pass: AKT (Applied Knowledge Test) and CSA (Clinical Skills Assessment). It also manages the ePortfolio web sites and defines the minimum skill, competency and knowledge levels you need to achieve to attain satisfactory sign off here.