UKFPO Bulletin – September 2024
Organ Donation week – 23-29 September
National Fitness Day – 18 September
Introduction
Welcome to the September UKFPO bulletin. On behalf of the UKFPO I would like to congratulate Dr Imogen Grant and Dr Kerenza Bryson, Foundation Programme doctors who competed for Great Britain at the recent Paris Olympics. Whilst not everyone can be an Olympian, most doctors have interests outside of medicine, continuing the long tradition of contribution by our profession to sport and to the arts. Whatever you are passionate about, I would encourage you to try and maintain this interest as it helps with your general wellbeing.
Support in your new job
I hope that you have settled into your new job and that you feel well supported in what you are doing. It is important that you talk to your educational supervisor (ES) and named clinical supervisor (CS) about how you are getting on, and also if there are times when you may not be getting the support that you would like.
E-portfolio
For most Foundation Programme doctors, it is still very early in the training year. However, it is really important to be thinking about how you can achieve all of the curricular outcomes by keeping your e-portfolio up to date. I am grateful to Dr Fiona Cameron, chair of the AoMRC Foundation Programme Committee, for giving us her thoughts on how to best go about this.
Best wishes
Dr Mike Masding
Co-chair of the UKFPO
Notices & Announcements
E&S webinar recording
The ‘Safe prescribing and SCRIPT’ webinar recording is now available on our webinars webpage (the webinar was held on 21 August 2024)
UKFPO Fellowship We have recently published our UKFPO Fellowship microsite, with lots of information on what the UKFPO Fellowship is, who is eligible and what the application process looks like. We also share bios of previous UKFPO Fellows and information about their projects. Have a look at the work of our 2023-24 Fellows, who have just completed their foundation training: Aysha Nijamudeen – Improving training opportunities for foundation doctors and Doanna Daoud – Beyond the blindspot: Unravelling unconscious bias
Opportunities and Events
E&S webinars
17 September 2024 (12:30-13:30): E-portfolios, reflection and good quality written feedback
18 October 2024 (13:00-14:00): Everyday ethical decision-making for foundation doctors
National Sarcoma Awareness Project – Opportunity for Foundation Doctors
The National Sarcoma Awareness Project is an initiative supported by two national charities, the Bone Cancer Research Trust and Sarcoma UK.
The project aims to increase awareness about sarcoma and offers the opportunity for foundation doctors to take part in a funded short term clinical fellowship at a Sarcoma Centre.
Open now until 31 October 2024. You can find more information on The National Sarcoma Awareness Project website.
Elearning for healthcare Update
Review the August 2024 elfh update and contact the elfh team for further information at support@e-lfh.org.uk.
Achieving curricular outcomes
Your e-portfolio is your training record for the year and supports your Annual Review of Competence Progression (ARCP). It is your personal training record to demonstrate your progress. The sooner you start the more prepared you will be for ARCP. You should have access to your portfolio by now. In England you will use Horus and in Scotland, NI, Wales and Malta you will use TURAS. Both portfolios are identical in content, but the layout may differ.
Portfolio requirements
Higher level outcomes – There are 3 higher level outcomes (HLOs), and all your evidence will ultimately be used to demonstrate that you meet these outcomes and are ready to progress to the next stage of training. You must provide evidence for physical, mental and social health.
HLO 1 – a capable, compassionate and competent clinician
HLO 2 – a valuable health care worker in the health care team
HLO 3 – the doctor as a professional
Each HLO is underpinned by foundation professional capabilities (FPCs). There are 13 in total. You should start looking at these FPCs now and think about how you will show that you have met them. Each FPC will require at least 1 piece of relevant evidence. It is strongly advised that you gather several pieces of evidence for each FPC. Most foundation doctors (FDs) have found that somewhere between 5 and 10 pieces of evidence are about right for each FPC. The portfolio will stop you linking once you have linked 10 pieces of evidence per FPC.
Types of evidence
- Supervised learning events (SLEs) – an SLE is a record of a clinical interaction with a patient where you have demonstrated your clinical abilities. These take the form of case-based discussions (CBD), mini-clinical evaluation exercises (mini-CEX) and directly observed procedures (DOPS). You should aim to complete a satisfactory number to demonstrate full curriculum coverage (most FDs do around 12-20 SLEs in a year). These SLEs must cover a range of physical, mental and social health for you meet the curriculum outcomes. [Usually linked to FPCs 1-5]
- Team assessment of behaviour (TAB) – you should send out TAB tickets to your colleagues to gain feedback on your team working. [Usually linked to FPCs 6-10]
- Placement supervision group (PSG) feedback -your CS will request your senior colleagues to provide feedback on your clinical performance. [Usually linked to FPCs 6-10]
- Quality improvement (QI) work-you must be involved in QI learning and activity. [Usually linked to FPCs 6-10]
- Teaching – as an FD you will receive delivered education as part of your foundation programme. Youshould also attend other teaching opportunities afforded to you including e- learning. You should record 30 hours of core learning (curriculum focussed) and 30 hours of non-core. [Usually linked to FPCs 6-10 and 11-13]
- Teaching others – as a doctor you will be expected to share your knowledge and you should provide evidence of teaching other groups such as peer-delivered teaching, undergraduates or multidisciplinary teaching. [Usually linked to FPCs 6-10]
- Reflections – you are required to reflect on your practice. Guidance on reflection is on the UKFPO website. The GMC also provide a guide to writing reflections. [Usually linked to FPCs 6-10 and 11-13]
- Summary narrative -this is a reflective piece that you use to consider your training year and how you have met the competences. It is also an opportunity to show areas of excellence where you have exceeded the requirements and positive feedback. You will complete 3 per year, that is, 1 per HLO.
Your CSs will write detailed end of post reports which will provide you with regular feedback on your progress and your ES will provide you with reports on your educational progress.
Further information is available on the UKFPO curriculum webpages. There are useful links to podcasts and webinars to help you further. Don’t forget that you have a foundation training programme director (TPD) and your supervisors are always able to help you to understand your requirements.
I wish you well for this coming training year.
Dr Fiona Cameron
Foundation School Director, Scotland