Welcome to the ST3- A Teaching programme page for 2026-2027.

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Overview

ST3 teaching is delivered on the “Day Release Course (DRC)” throughout your ST3 year. It is split into two halves, much like ST2, meaning that you can start in September or February and have the same experience. In ST3, we run some sessions twice to account for different stages of training, but most sessions are held together in one group. The Day-Release Course in Bolton runs on Wednesdays between September and July each academic year, with breaks at the traditional longer Christmas & Easter school holidays.

Sessions are based around group work, focussing on consultation skills required for both MRCGP examinations and life as a post-CCT GP. We use a variety of teaching styles and promote self-directed learning in preparation for post-qualification. This sounds boring, but we generally have a lot of fun on Wednesdays, giving us the (hopefully affectionate) nickname of “play school” by many local GP trainers.

Please bring the following to sessions:

• A pen and paper/workbook for recording feedback during group work sessions
  • A tablet/laptop may be preferred for this purpose, but be aware that there are relatively few electrical outlets for charging
• Lunch or money to buy from nearby hospital/local shops.
  • Please note that unfortunately we do not have refrigerator or microwave facilities, but hot water is available
• Cash or card to pay the car parking charge (which you can claim back from the Lead Employer)
• A curious and enthuastic attitude
• Baked goods, snacks and food to share in the group is always welcome!

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Attendance

An ST3 resident doctor job plan will include educational time for attendance at this full-day (0900-1700) event each week, and the North West Deanery expects attendance in line with professionalism standards that are reviewed at your ARCP. Less-than-full-time resident doctors should attend the proportion of Wednesday sessions in line with their job plan.

Attendance is defined as arriving in time for the advertised session start time, actively participating in sessions held, and no departures before the end of advertised session times.

• Morning Sessions start promptly at 0930, with hot drinks available from 0900. Morning sessions will finish by 1245.
• Afternoon sessions will start no sooner than 1300 and will usually be finished by 1600 unless otherwise stated.
• One hour of each morning/afternoon session time is allocated to give feedback on sessions and to complete a portfolio entry reflecting on what has been learned, which forms the official record of attendance. We will also usually reference resources to explore in this time outside the group sessions.
• A register of attendance is taken by the education team to track attendance in order to identify and support resident doctors. This will be taken at the start of sessions and late arrivals will not be recorded. However, resident doctors can still reflect in their portfolio on the session as evidence of attendance
• Resident doctors should take annual/study/professional leave (as appropriate) and in agreement with their host practice policies. Leave should broadly conform to the same 70/30 clinical/educational split that work hours are defined by.
• Resident Doctors are reminded of the relevant Lead Employer policies on attendance and absence; our own policy is viewable here.

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Location

Teaching usually takes place in Seminar Room 1 or 2 at the Royal Bolton Hospital Education Centre. Postcode is: BL4 0NB. Parking is available on site, with payment required before exit *this cost can be reclaimed via your Expenses).

There are toilets, a fresh water cooler, vending machines, hot water, NHS WiFi and a library on site. A quiet room can often be arranged and at designated times of the year we arrange space for prayer, although the multi-faith facilities of the main hospital site are also available.

We will also have sessions online using Microsoft Teams and Zoom , and we ask that you download the relevant software in advance to your home devices to facilitate this. An nhs.net email address should be assigned to you by your host practice (ask for one if not) which will allow full functionality when using Teams.

We host some sessions off-site:

• Horwich Health & Wellbeing Hub
• Bolton Octagon
• Bolton Arena
• Bolton FT Clinical Skills
• Rivington

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Advance Sign-Up

A few sessions will require advance sign-up due to either limited capacity, catering or for planning purposes. These will be indicated nearer the time and links activated here.

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Schedule

All ST3 doctors are expected to attend Wednesday sessions unless engaged in an otherwise authorised educational activity. Sessions are designed to be relevant to all stages of training

Resources from sessions can be found in the dedicated section.

Morning 0915 – 1245

Please leave Feedback on these sessions here: ST3-A 2026 Feedback

Date	ST3 starting in Sept 2026	ST3 starting before Sept 2026	Description
26 August	Induction	ST3 planning discussion
2 September	SCA Practice with First 5s	SCA Practice with First 5s	If you have passed SCA, we’d like your help in giving feedback and you can log this as evidence of teaching/training
9 September	Art of Critique & Benchmarking [SP]	Case Discussions [KR]
16 September	How to SCA with an RCGP examiner [KR]	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects	Ian Hamer, an RCGP examiner guides on how best to prepare
23 September	Online Video Consultation Practice (Mock SCA) [KR]	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects	Via Teams
30 September	Great Explanations [SP, KR]	Great Explanations [SP, KR]
7 October	Beyond Labels with Sally Heady [SP]	Beyond Labels with Sally Heady [SP]	Understanding the psychology of patients, diagnosis and effecting change
14 October	Actor Session: Challenging Cases [SP, KR]	Actor Session: Challenging Cases [SP, KR]	Whether for SCA or CCT, practise challenging cases with actors & feedback
21 October	Case Discussions [KR]	T2GP1 (Preparing for post-CCT practice) [SP]
28 October	PRiME by University of Manchester	PRiME by University of Manchester
4 November	ST3 Led Presentations	T2GP2 (Preparing for post-CCT practice) [SP]
11 November	Wellbeing Day	Wellbeing Day	Held at Bolton Octagon, understand how to protect yourself from GP stressors
18 November	tbc	tbc
25 November	Adult Safeguarding L3 with Sarah Kiely [SP]	Adult Safeguarding L3 with Sarah Kiely [SP]	Interactive discussion to achieve L3 Adult Safeguarding
2 December	ST3 Led Presentations	ST3 Led Presentations
9 December	BLS/AED/Anaphylaxis hosted by Bolton NHS FT	BLS/AED/Anaphylaxis hosted by Bolton NHS FT	Meets RCGP and ARCP criteria
16 December	Building Bridges and Teamwork	Building Bridges and Teamwork	What makes a good team?
23 December	Break	Break	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects
30 December	Break	Break	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects
6 January	Practical Ethics	Practical Ethics	Session with a bioethicist using case discussion
13 January	Active Bystander	Active Bystander	Anti-discrimination training
20 January	Child Safeguarding L3	Child Safeguarding L3	Interactive discussion to achieve L3 Child Safeguarding
27 January	Careers: AMA with PCMEs	Careers: AMA with PCMEs	Discussing career and work life of a post CCCT GP

Please leave Feedback on these sessions here: ST3-A 2026 Feedback

SCA Dates

• 8 – 11 September
• 6 – 9 October
• 3 – 6 November

AKT Dates

• 26 October

Afternoon 1330 – 1600

Afternoon sessions involve small group discussion work and not all are required to attend. If your group is not schedule to attend, you should be conducting educational activity that can be referenced in a learning log.

There are three groups and you should assign yourself to the one that best fits:

Sessions are usually held in SR2.

Please leave feedback on the sessions here: ST3-A 2026 Afternoon Feedback

Date	Tonge New to ST3	Croal Mid ST3	Irwell Post-SCA
26 August	1:1 Interviews	1:1 Interviews	1:1 Interviews
2 September	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects
9 September	Portfolio Planning: New/Mid ST3 [SU]	Portfolio Planning: New/Mid ST3 [SU]	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects
16 September
23 September	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects
30 September	Explanation Practice	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects
7 October	Presentation Preparation	Presentation Preparation	Presentation Preparation
14 October	Presentation Preparation	Being a New GP [SU]	Being a New GP [SU]
21 October	Clinical Case Discussions [SS]	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects	Presentation Preparation
28 October	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects	Presentation Preparation	Clinical Case Discussions [SS]
4 November
11 November	Wellbeing Day	Wellbeing Day	Wellbeing Day
18 November	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects	Clinical Case Discussions [HE]	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects
25 November
2 December
9 December
16 December
23 December	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects
30 December	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects
6 January
13 January
20 January	Child Safeguarding	Child Safeguarding	Child Safeguarding
27 January	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects	Use Educational Time for WBPA/Projects

Please leave feedback on the sessions here: ST3-A 2026 Afternoon Feedback

Timetable last updated:

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