Specialty specific guidance for Portfolio in Tropical Medicine

Published 21 September 2021

The new Tropical Medicine curriculum was published in July 2021.

The deadline for Portfolio applications to apply against the previous version of the curriculum ended 31 May 2023. Any application submitted after this date will be assessed against the new curriculum.

Specialty specific guidance

The Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board and GMC have produced guidance for the evidence expected for your application.

How to apply

You can apply through your GMC Online account.

All applications made in Tropical Medicine must also demonstrate the CiPs shared with one of the following specialties:

  • Medical Virology
  • Medical Microbiology
  • General (internal) Medicine

There is no longer a stand-alone Portfolio application in Tropical Medicine. This reflects service need and mirrors the CCT curriculum.

In the application form you can choose which one of the above three specialties you will be providing evidence for. A successful applicant will be awarded specialist registration in Tropical Medicine and their second chosen specialty.

2021 curriculum

Our standards for postgraduate medical curricula are Excellence by design and the framework for Generic professional capabilities. These help postgraduate medical training programmes focus trainee assessment away from an exhaustive list of individual competencies, towards fewer broad capabilities needed to practise safely from your first day as a consultant.

As a result, the 2021 physicianly curricula are outcomes based. This means trainees will be assessed against the fundamental capabilities required of consultants in the working week. These include the general skills which all doctors need to have as well as those needed to carry out all the specific day to day tasks undertaken by a consultant physician (Capabilities in Practice – CiPs).

The Tropical Medicine curriculum is made up six Generic CiPs which are common to all physicianly specialties and eight Specialty CiPs unique to Tropical Medicine.

In Tropical Medicine, two years Internal Medicine Training will replace Core Medical Training as the core training programme. Applicants will be required to demonstrate maintenance of relevant Internal Medicine Stage 1 capabilities (including MRCP).

Applying for Tropical Medicine with Medical Virology/Medical Microbiology

You will need to provide evidence for:

  • Six Generic CiPs which are common to all physicianly specialties
  • Eight Specialty CiPs for Tropical Medicine with Medical Virology/Medical Microbiology

Please note

Whilst the CiPs are the same for Medical Virology and Medical Microbiology there is a separate syllabus for each specialty which sets out the clinical context in which they demonstrate the CiPs. You will need to refer to the syllabus in the curriculum for either Medical Virology or Medical Microbiology when collating your evidence.

Applying for Tropical Medicine with General (internal) Medicine

You will need to provide evidence for:

  • Six Generic CiPs which are common to all physicianly specialties
  • Eight Specialty CiPs for Tropical Medicine
  • Eight Clinical CiPs for General (internal) Medicine

Content shared between all physicianly specialties

There are six CiPs which are shared between all physicianly specialties:

  • CiP 1 – Able to function successfully within NHS organisational and management systems
  • CiP 2 – Able to deal with ethical and legal issues related to clinical practice
  • CiP 3 – Communicates effectively and is able to share decision making, while maintaining appropriate situational awareness, professional behaviour and professional judgement
  • CiP 4 – Is focused on patient safety and delivers effective quality improvement in patient care
  • CiP 5 – Carrying out research and managing data appropriately
  • CiP 6 – Acting as a clinical teacher and clinical supervisor

Specialty specific content

Applying for Tropical Medicine with Medical Virology/Medical Microbiology

There are eight specialty CiPs for Tropical Medicine. Seven of these CiPs are shared with Medical Virology and Medical Microbiology:

  • CiP 1 – Able to provide clinical leadership and support to the laboratory
  • CiP 2 – Able to use the laboratory service effectively in the investigation, diagnosis and management of infection
  • CiP 3 – Able to advise on infection prevention, control and immunisation
  • CiP 4 – Able to manage and advise on important clinical syndromes where infection is in the differential diagnosis
  • CiP 5 – Able to lead and advise on treatment with and stewardship of antimicrobials
  • CiP 6 – Providing continuity of care to inpatients and outpatients with suspected or proven infection
  • CiP 7 – Able to manage and advise on imported infections
  • CiP 8 – Able to deliver equitable and high quality care in resource poor settings

Applying for Tropical Medicine with General (internal) Medicine

The eight clinical CiPs are shared with General (internal) Medicine are:

  • CiP 1 – Managing an acute unselected take
  • CiP 2 – Managing the acute care of patients within a medical specialty service
  • CiP 3 – Providing continuity of care to medical inpatients, including management of comorbidities and cognitive impairment
  • CiP 4 – Managing patients in an outpatient clinic, ambulatory or community setting, including management of long term conditions
  • CiP 5 – Managing medical problems in patients in other specialties and special cases
  • CiP 6 – Managing a multi-disciplinary team including effective discharge planning
  • CiP 7 – Delivering effective resuscitation and managing the acutely deteriorating patient
  • CiP 8 – Managing end of life and applying palliative care skills

Curriculum updates to Portfolio pathway applications

The curricula for your specialty might be due for an update. This will impact the evidence you need to provide for your application. Read more about what this means for you.
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