The Hallmarks of Excellence
You may not yet have all the hallmarks of excellence for a doctor training to be a general practitioner but we would hope that you have some of them and will encourage and support your personal and professional development towards the remainder.
You will need a positive and welcoming response to new ideas and working methods that vocational training exposes you to. You will need qualities of genuine caring for patients, clinical competence, self-awareness and insight into your own motives, needs and feelings and the ability to work in small interactive groups. It is always nice to see a sense of humour, willingness to lend a hand and tolerance of different points of view.
Educationally we hope you will work towards self-direction and develop a continued interest in learning. Motivation is clearly important, and enthusiasm, commitment and eagerness to learn will help you get the best out of your vocational training.
Learning to achieve a balance between your professional and private life requires a certain amount of personal organisation and is an important strategy for retaining a sense of perspective throughout your life as a general practitioner.
You will need to be hard working and conscientious. Communication skills are important both for your work with patients and with colleagues. They may have diminished a little whilst at medical school; we hope to resurrect them during vocational training. Ability for problem solving and critical appraisal is important. Bringing the experience of the wider world outside medicine can add to our qualities as a GP.
The Learning Environment
This should involve mutual planning and shared responsibility for education and training. Adult learners take responsibility for their own learning, use their own experiences, are life-long learners and develop the core knowledge, skills and attitudes they need.
Personal Development Plans (PDP) and Portfolio Learning
This is based upon the principle of tailoring your learning and your educational objectives to your personal and professional needs. A portfolio is simply a way of keeping it all together. It is more than a CV, it is dynamic and tailor-made, documents your experience, changing career objectives and can be a personal summary of your learning events through our vocational training scheme and life in general. It can include diverse events contributing to personal development.
In summary, your portfolio might be Personal, Organisational, Resourceful, Training, Fun, Owned, Learning, Interesting, and an Overview.
Hospital Posts
The hospital component follows the aims and objectives as recommended by the Conference of Royal Colleges and their faculties in the UK. There is a commitment to teaching within each department and support and encouragement towards study for the relevant diplomas, You will enter your two year rotation through a series of hospital posts. The rotations on offer will vary from scheme to scheme but will encompass a choice from the following specialties: Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Paediatrics, General Medicine, Care of the Elderly, Psychiatry, Accident & Emergency.
HEE recently awarded Education Charter Marking to Emergency Department, Psychiatry, Public Health
Special Opportunities
There may be opportunity for additional experience in specialities such as Palliative Care, Rhematogy and Public Health
VTS Half Day Release
ST1, ST2 and ST3 meet at 1pm on Thursdays and after formal teaching at 2pm there is group work
MRCGP
With effect from August 2007 all those wishing to apply to sit the Membership Examination of the College will be required to complete a new assessment package comprising three elements:
– Applied Knowledge Test (AKT)
– Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA)
– Workplace Based Assessment (WPBA)
The College has produced a new curriculum for GP training on which the new assessment will be based:
Applied Knowledge Test (AKT)
– Machine marked paper
– 200 items
– Mostly extended matching and single best answer questions
– Three times per year (February, May, October)
Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA)
– An assessment of a doctor ’s ability to integrate and apply clinical, professional, communication and practical skills appropriate for general practice
– Multiple station OSCE format
Workplace Based Assessment (WPBA)
– Enhanced Trainers Report
– A number of externally moderated assessment tools