January Bulletin

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Word January surrounded by snowy trees and a mountain background

Dry January

World Religion Day – 19 January

Insert action for happiness calendar link

Other national campaigns this month

Action for happiness calendar – ‘Happier January’

Introduction

Welcome to the January bulletin!

A happy New Year to you all, I hope that everyone connected with the Foundation Programme has a happy and healthy 2025. I also hope that you all got some time to rest and relax over the festive period and spent some time doing what you enjoy.

New Year’s resolutions

Apparently, the association of the new year with making life changes was first described in Babylon in c.2000 BC. However the first use of the term ‘New Year’s resolution’ was in the early 19th century, on the basis that people behaved really badly in December and should therefore atone for their sins as they moved into a new year….

I am sure that all foundation doctors behaved impeccably in December 2024! Nonetheless it is perhaps a good time to think about what you might do differently in 2025 to help ensure that you have a successful Foundation Programme.

Foundation Programme resolutions

  • Spend a bit more time keeping your e-portfolio up to date?
  • Working on your reflective writing skills and discussing these with your supervisor?
  • Doing some SLEs and getting some feedback on your performance?
  • Getting on with your QI project?
  • Having a look through the curriculum to make sure you have evidence for all of the HLOs? (or at least a plan for getting that evidence?)
  • Thinking about what you would like to do after completing the Foundation Programme, and making a plan for getting there?

Doing these types of things will make life much easier as we move in the spring towards ARCP season. If you are not sure about what to do, then please discuss with your educational supervisor and/or your Foundation Programme Training Director.

UKFPO webinars

UKFPO continues to put on a series of interesting and relevant webinars for Foundation Programme doctors and faculty. The most recent webinar was about sexual safety when working in the NHS, facilitated by Dasha Ibrahim, one of our UKFPO Fellows. I would highly recommend you watching the recording of this, which is available on the UKFPO YouTube channel and the UKFPO website. Whilst it is sobering to listen to accounts of what has happened to some doctors, I hope that by shining a light on such abhorrent behaviour, we can start to change the culture in the NHS so that all staff members are treated equally, fairly and with kindness. If you ever come across such awful things, please talk to your supervisor and/or your Foundation Programme Training Director.

National Foundation Doctors Presentation Day

I look forward to seeing those of you who will be attending the National Foundation Doctors Presentation Day at Sheffield United FC on Friday 17 January 2025. I know it will be a great day seeing the fantastic presentations about work done in the Foundation Programme.

Take care of yourself and each other

As always, there is information on all this on the website. You can also email questions to educationandsupport@foundationprogramme.nhs.uk

Best wishes

Mike Masding, Co-chair to the UKFPO

Reflections

Have you made any new year’s resolutions?

What goals do you have for your training this year?

Spotlight on educational resources

We have just published a new resource to support doctors preparing for F1 – have a look, share with your medical student friends and colleagues and let us know if you have any comments or want to share your own stories!

Events and Opportunities

Humans of the Foundation Programme

Are you interested in creating writing and would like your article published on the UKFPO website and in the monthly bulletin? Jie Fei Lau, one of our UKFPO Fellows, has just launched her project ‘Humans of the Foundation Programme’, see webpage for further details, articles and the submission form.

UKFPO Fellows 2025-26

Would you be interested in applying to be a UKFPO Fellow for the 2025-26 training year? See all information around the role and when the application window opens on the link above!

Webinars

Recordings

The following recording is now available on our webinars webpage:

‘Sexual safety in the NHS – An introduction for foundation doctors’ held on 28 November 2024

Elfh update

Review the December 2024 elfh update