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Teaching (also known as ‘Half-Day Release’ or HDR) usually takes place on the second, third and fourth Wednesdays of the month.
It is a requirement of the Attendance Policy that you come to a minimum of 70% of the patch teaching sessions for your group.
Teaching is usually in person but may sometimes be offered online. This will be indicated in the timetables. Teaching takes place at the Southmead Hospital Learning and Research Centre, Bristol BS10 5FN (Map on Contact Us page) Please be aware that parking is often difficult on surrounding roads if you are driving but you may be able to walk, cycle or use public transport. Please arrive on time out of courtesy to the organisers and speakers.
The timetables are subject to change as some sessions later in the year have yet to be planned or confirmed. We will usually email you to inform you of these changes but it is your responsibility to check the timetables regularly. You may need to to confirm your place for some sessions by email but this should be clear on the timetable and you would usually also receive an email reminder.
A note on the EPO sessions in the timetables: your place needs to be booked in advance by emailing baljit@sapernhr.co.uk as they are run by an external provider.
ST1/ST2
ST1/ST2 trainee sessions start at 9am and last for the morning session. You will be allocated either red or blue group. Each group has one teaching session per month (as indicated in the timetables below).
The frequency of teaching sessions varies: if trainees are on a GP rotation, then attendance at teaching is 3 times a month as follows:
- x1 teaching session with your red or blue group*.
- x2 STiG (Specialty Trainee in General practice) sessions. The structure of these will be made clear at induction.
If trainees are placed in secondary care, they only attend teaching once a month with their allocated group (red or blue). On Wednesday mornings when you are not in teaching you will be expected to attend your usual secondary care placements. It is your responsibility to inform your rota co-ordinators sufficiently ahead of time of the dates of teaching so that this can be factored into their work scheduling.
*note for 2024/25 year: ST1/2 teaching will no longer be split into red and blue groups. Instead trainees will attend teaching in their training year cohorts on a monthly basis. STiG sessions will continue to be held twice a month for those on their GP placements. See the new 2024/25 timetables below for further information. Where this falls in the month does vary so please keep an eye on the timetable as it is subject to change. It is your responsibility to inform your host placement of the dates you’ll be required to attend teaching in order to arrange appropriate study leave.
ST3
ST3 trainee sessions start at 1pm and last for the afternoon session. Teaching is usually 3 times a month. Your Educational Supervisors are aware that you must be available to attend the session. There are occasional full-day sessions to be aware of on the timetable. It is your responsibility to liaise with your host practice to ensure that you are not scheduled to see patients during teaching sessions.
On weeks where there is no timetabled teaching, full-time (100% WTE) trainees are not expected to attend their host practice, as this is your educational time. This change in the contract has been made in recent years so on occasion host practices are not aware of this change.
For less than full-time (LTFT) trainee then this depends on how you plan to attend teaching over the full course of your ST3 training year. See the page on The Working Week under the LTFT section for further details.
If you need further support with this then please speak to your TPDs.
ST1 and ST2 (9.15 am start unless otherwise stated):
ST3 (1 pm start unless otherwise stated):
EPO sessions – Avon LMC Courses via SapernHR
EPO sessions (external provider offering) are incorporated into the timetables above.
Sessions are free but must be pre-booked by emailing Baljit on baljit@sapernhr.co.uk
Please do not try to book these online through the LMC events calendar as you may be charged a fee.