Education news from the GMC - February 2012
Education news from the GMC is a regular e-bulletin which contains the latest news and developments in medical education and training from the GMC.
To receive the update, please send an email to education@gmc-uk.org.
In this issue:
Review of 2011
Last year we set out to drive improvement in medical education by implementing our three-year education strategy (2011-13). We have made steady progress, with highlights in four main areas.
1. Setting and assuring standards, and valuing education and training
- We published The Trainee Doctor in March, consolidating our standards for foundation and specialty including GP training in a single publication for the first time.
- In January, we started developing a framework to recognise and approve trainers. We are now consulting on our proposals and we expect to have analysed the feedback and decided on next steps by mid-2012.
- We launched the Quality Improvement Framework in April, setting out an improved, integrated approach to quality assurance.
- To improve quality assurance visits, we piloted an integrated approach across undergraduate and postgraduate training in the West Midlands and Wales from October to December.
- The Quality Scrutiny Group was established in July to scrutinise visit reports and other evidence.
- We took forward discussions about workplace based assessment in May, leading to the publication in the autumn of Learning and assessment in the clinical environment.
2. Promoting effective selection, transition and progression
- We consulted on new draft guidance on CPD between November and January, following a review of the role of the regulator in this area.
- We have continued to work closely with our partners in education to support more effective transition, especially from medical school to the Foundation Programme.
3. Defining outcomes for education and training
- We issued supplementary advice to Tomorrow’s Doctors on undergraduate assessment, patient and public involvement, clinical placements and developing teachers and trainers.
- New work to develop generic outcomes for postgraduate education began in January.
- Our review of the equivalence routes to the specialist and GP registers paved the way to a consultation on our proposals set to launch this year.
4. Working with partners and promoting feedback and learning
- Roundtable discussion events with students, trainees, SAS doctors, and newly qualified consultants and GPs helped us to gather feedback on the challenges they face and to find out how we can better support them.
- We began a review of the national training survey to understand how we can improve it. The first phase of this work will be implemented this year.
- In September, Council decided that the GMC should not register medical students and that instead, we would develop other ways to engage more closely with students. We are now taking forward a significant programme of work to do so.
Projects in the pipeline for 2012
We are continuing to implement the education strategy and drive improvement, with the following projects already in the pipeline.
If you’d like to get involved with any of the projects mentioned above, please email us at education@gmc-uk.org.
Consultation on the recognition and approval of trainers – now open
We are proposing new arrangements for the recognition and approval of medical trainers. The proposals are designed to improve the quality and consistency of medical training. They would clarify the roles and responsibilities of those who deliver training, as well as the parts played by the GMC, postgraduate deaneries and medical schools.
We are now asking medical training organisations, healthcare providers, medical trainers, doctors and others to tell us if they think the new proposals will promote the value of training and enhance its status.
Your views are vital to this work. To find out more and take part in the consultation, which runs until 30 March 2012, go to: Recognition and approval of trainers: a consultation.
Regional visits and quality assurance plans for 2012
Regional visits in 2012 will focus on London
In 2012, we will be visiting the five medical schools in London (Barts and The London School, King’s College London, Imperial College London, UCL and St George’s) and the London Deanery. As the London region includes five of the 31 medical schools in the UK and 20% of trainees, this region will be our sole focus for regional visits in 2012.
Checks and small specialty reviews will take place across the UK
We will also do short checks of deaneries, medical schools and local education providers across the UK in 2012. Checks will focus on:
- investigating problems identified through our evidence
- investigating broader concerns across several deaneries and local education providers
- observing how deaneries and medical schools manage concerns – for example, by observing quality management visits to local education providers – to see how they provide public assurance that high risk issues are being resolved locally
- verifying that a medical school or deanery has taken the action they reported to us.
We will send you the programme of checks and reviews in spring 2012 after we have analysed the annual reports from medical schools, deaneries and royal colleges and faculties.
Reviewing our quality assurance activities
This year, we are beginning a comprehensive review of how we quality assure medical education and training in the UK. If you would like further information please contact Richard Marchant (rmarchant@gmc-uk.org) or visit our website: Reviewing our approach to the quality assurance of medical education and training.
National training surveys update
The national trainee survey will launch at the end of April
We have started a major project to improve the content, delivery and reporting of the national trainee survey. Changes this year will deliver several key benefits:
- Deaneries will be able to validate their own data before sending it to us, and subsequently manage their records through GMC Connect.
- We are bringing the survey in house – trainees will send their responses through GMC Online, allowing more efficient communication and quicker delivery of results.
- Deaneries will be able to access survey reports within days of the survey closing.
- New reporting capabilities will allow reporting on small specialties.
There will not be a trainer survey this year
There will not be a trainer survey this year while this undergoes a significant review. The review will be complemented by our work on the recognition and approval of trainers. We expect to report on the outcomes of the review by the end of 2013. Please email surveys@gmc-uk.org if you have any queries about the trainer survey.
Visit National Training Surveys on our website to see updates.
Less than full-time academic trainees
We issued a position statement on less than full-time training (LTFT) in October 2011, but there has been some uncertainty on the position of academic trainees.
In response, we’ve published an additional statement to clarify the position of academic trainees and the role of postgraduate deans in planning their training. Read this in full at: Less than full-time training - January 2012.
College examinations that can count towards a CCT are changing
Any valid passes in national professional examinations can now count towards a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT), even if the examination was taken outside approved training. But the candidate must enter, or re-enter, approved training within seven years of passing the examination.
There’s some scope for flexibility on this time limit in individual cases depending on the circumstances. Examinations will not be counted towards a CCT if they are taken after doctors have completed their training programmes.
How many times can candidates take an examination?
They will have a maximum of six attempts to pass an examination, although individual colleges may decide to set a lower limit. For a candidate to sit an examination once they’ve reached the limit, they will have to demonstrate additional educational experience for each re-sit. Colleges will decide what evidence will count in these circumstances, but it will have to be relevant for all candidates including those who are not in UK training schemes.
AoMRC work now underway
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) is now working on a plan to implement new arrangements for college examinations. You can read more about these changes at: Examinations and the award of a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT).
The new Foundation Programme curriculum and outcomes for F2
At the end of 2011, the GMC approved the new curriculum and assessment arrangements for the Foundation Programme, and the outcomes that trainees should meet by the end of their second year of foundation training (F2). These will be implemented from August 2012.
Other GMC news
Assisting suicide – new draft guidance
We are consulting on draft guidance on assisting suicide. This guidance is for our fitness to practise decision makers to use when they are considering allegations about a doctor’s fitness to practise that relate to encouraging or assisting suicide. The consultation is open until 4 May 2012 – you can find out more and take part by completing the online questionnaire at: Guidance for the Investigation Committee and case examiners when considering allegations about a doctor’s involvement in encouraging or assisting suicide.