UKFPO Bulletin

Posted on:

September Bulletin

The word 'September' written in orange text over a picture of a sunflower

World Suicide Prevention Day – 10 September 

World Sepsis Day – 13 September 

Urology Awareness Month 

Other national campaigns this month 

Action for happiness calendar – ‘Self-Care September’ 

Introduction

Welcome to the September edition of the bulletin 

Many of you will have just completed the first month of the Foundation Programme and I hope that all has gone well. Remember do not be afraid to ask for help and advice, there is always someone around who will be able to help you out if you’re not sure what to do. 

20 years of the Foundation Programme 

The Foundation Programme is 20 years old! As part of the Modernising Medical Careers reorganisation of postgraduate medical education, the first Foundation Programme doctors started in August 2005. Prior to this, doctors like me had done a 12-month preregistration house officer year, comprising of medicine and surgery jobs. where was no curriculum, no educational supervision, little evidence of practice and not much formal career advice.  

There have been lots of changes to the Foundation Programme since 2005, but I am proud that the fundamental principle remains: to ensure that new doctors develop the skills that all doctors will need in their future careers, regardless of what specialty they go into.  

UKFPO will be celebrating this milestone with a special anniversary webinar on 17 September reflecting on the journey of the Foundation Programme – from its pilot phase to its current role shaping the careers of thousands of doctors across the UK.   

Foundation Programme curricula  

The Foundation Programme curriculum has undergone lots of changes over the years, and many individuals have spent a huge amount of time, often in their own time, ensuring that foundation doctors learn and develop to be the best versions of themselves with the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to be a 21st century doctor.  

We have reduced the amount of assessments that any foundation doctor has to do and have introduced ways of helping to develop reflective thinking and writing. The curriculum will continue to evolve to ensure that foundation doctors are ready to enter specialty training. 

Getting into the Foundation Programme  

When Foundation Programme training started, UK medical school graduates were limited in where they could apply, usually only locally to their medical school. Over the past 20 years, lots of changes have been made to the Foundation Programme allocation process in order to try to make it as fair and equitable is possible.  

Because there is little alignment of where medical students come from, the number of places at each medical school, and Foundation Programme posts across the country, it has never been possible to get everyone into a Foundation Programme where they want to be. UKFPO continues to work with stakeholders to ensure as many applicants as possible get their first choice Foundation Programme, whilst also ensuring that foundation doctors are distributed across the NHS where they are needed, because of their valuable contribution to patient care. 

Looking forward  

Over 100,000 doctors will have been through the Foundation Programme since it started in August 2005, with some of the first cohorts of foundation doctors now entering their second decade as senior doctors. I am sure that they continue to use skills developed whilst in the Foundation Programme, and as they have moved onto being supervisors of foundation doctors, pass on the wisdom and experience they have picked up over years of professional practice. 

The Foundation Programme will continue to evolve and I hope that many readers will be involved in this as time goes by. I look forward to many more years of successful Foundation doctor development. 

As ever, look after yourselves and each other. 

Best wishes 

Dr Mike Masding, UKFPO National Clinical Director

Notices and announcements

UKFPO Education and Support Service 

In a short video communication for our new and current foundation doctors and faculty, Dr Mike Masding explains the role of the UKFPO Education and Support service in supporting both foundation doctors and faculty in their training and development. Mike outlines how the team ensures consistent curriculum delivery across the UK and signposts to national guidance and offers of a wide range of resources and webinars to enhance learning. 

This short video can be found on our Curriculum page or our YouTube channel.

Spotlight on educational resources

PSA preparation resources for FY1s 

Take a look at a new set of preparation resources for sitting the PSA, created by UK medical school faculty to support new F1 doctors, especially those who graduated outside the UK, to prepare for the PSA. 

Note the live revision sessions being run on YouTube during September! There are also recordings of revision sessions run during August. 

Prescribing as an FD 

For further information about prescribing as a foundation doctor, review our webinar held in August 2024 on ‘Safe prescribing and SCRIPT’ (link to webinar recording). Links to the recording, the slides shared during the webinar and other webinar recordings are on our webinars webpage. 

If you haven’t already, please sign up to the SCRIPT platform and explore the wide range of courses available. 

Good quality written feedback – attention trainers! 

Last September, we ran a webinar focussing on e-portfolios, reflection and good quality written feedback. Specific guidance and advice for trainers of foundation doctors was shared starting 28:35 minutes into the video (until 40:06). We recommend you watch this to refresh your skills on providing effective feedback. 

E-portfolios, reflection and SLEs – attention foundation doctors and trainers! 

The above-mentioned webinar includes lots of great insights, hints and tips from colleagues with lived experience of using these tools. We recommend all foundation doctors (especially if you’re new to training in the UK) watch (or re-watch!) this webinar to support you to make the best use of your e-portfolio during your training. 

The slides from this webinar can be downloaded from our Webinars page (open the “Education and Support” section, then scroll down to (or search for) “E-portfolios, reflection and good quality written feedback – September 2024”). 

Supporting foundation doctors – a guide for supervisors 

For a rough guide on how to support foundation doctors through good induction, supervision and awareness of unconscious bias, review our ‘Supporting Foundation Doctors – a guide for supervisors’ (held in June 2024) to refresh ideas. See the webinar slides on our webinars page (open the “Education and Support” section, then scroll down to “Supporting foundation doctors – a guide for supervisors – June 2024”)

Webinars

Coming up 

If there are any specific topics you think we have missed or you wish for us to cover in our educational webinar series, please send your suggestions to foundation.educationandsupport@nhs.net

Opportunities and events

National Foundation Doctors Presentation Day (NFDPD) 2026 – Hold the date! 

Current foundation doctors are warmly invited to a day of oral and poster presentations by F1 and F2 doctors on Friday 23 January 2026 in Southampton – see our NFDPD 2026 event listing for details and links. The event will be taking place at Southampton Football Club, Britannia Road, Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom, SO14 5FP. For more information on venue details, transport and accommodation, see our venue details webpage. The NFDPD is an annual event celebrating the work of UK foundation doctors. Details on how to prepare for and apply to present at the NFDPD 2026 are on our website: UKFP National Foundation Doctors Presentation Day (NFDPD) 

Humans of the Foundation Programme 

Are you interested in creative writing and would like your article published on the UKFPO website, social media platforms and in this monthly bulletin (which is shared with the whole UK Foundation Programme community)? See our ‘Humans of the Foundation Programme’ webpage, created by Dr Jie Fei Lau, one of our previous UKFPO Fellows, for further details, published articles and the submission form to submit articles of your own.   

New articles published this month: 

Elearning for healthcare update

Review the August 2025 elfh update