The Academic Foundation Programme

Dr JKA MillsAcademic Foundation Programme

Career LeadSpring 2013

Purpose

• These slides are designed to help inform and prepare Nottingham students for the AFP application cycle.

• They are by no means comprehensive, but I hope encourage application to the AFP.

Outline

• What is the Academic Foundation Programme• Preparation for applying• Recurrent themes• The Interview• EPM• SJT• Resources

What is the academic foundation programme?

• Job parallel to Foundation Programme

• Typically complete 5 “clinical” FY1-FY2 rotations in Medicine/Surgery etc.

• Protected time for “Academic” Activity

Is it right for me?• Academic foundation Vs Foundation Programme

• Competitive entry (35-40% of students for 5% of jobs)

• Designed for high achievers (e.g. 1st class degree, publications/prize winners, high performers)

AND/OR• For those wishing to pursue an academic career

(researcher, teaching fellow, medical leader)

What can it offer?

• Research

• Education

• Leadership

Making the most of your time

• You can make the most of your time in the run up to the application process.

• There is a lot you could do in this time....

Posters

• Worth points!• Easy to produce• Submit to conference, good

chance of acceptance• Most BMedSci abstracts could

get accepted if you submit to a relevant conference.

• Aim for first author to score points- may not score if not first author

Prizes• Worth points!• Can be Royal College awarded• Can be Medical charity awarded• Variable difficulty to achieve• May be 2000-5000 word essay? • May be “top score” awarded?• May be related to a photograph/debate/best

presentation?• Should be medically relevant, not e.g. 1st prize in

a beauty contest

Presentations

• Worth points!• Harder than a poster to

achieve• Submit an abstract for

oral presentation• Would involve speaking

to an audience• Good practice for

academic interviews

Publications• Worth points!

• Can be difficult to achieve

• May take a few months between submission, re-editing, acceptance and final publication

• Doesn’t matter which journal, the process is more important.

• Position of authorship not currently important unlike posters (e.g. could be 5th author)

• Should have a PubMed ID

And what do points win...?

“White Space Questions”

• May be part of AFP application, not National application

• All parts of the question must be answered.

• Use clear language, with good spelling, punctuation and grammar.

• Know the meaning of command words like ‘describe’, ‘identify’, ‘explain’, ‘evaluate’, ‘list’ etc

Application and Interview ‘Themes’

Teaching• “3. Teaching Achievements: Give one example of your teaching

achievements and its significance to your application for an academic Foundation Programme.” (NYH Deanery)

• Most applications may award ~1/6th of the application score for teaching experience.

• Do volunteer in clinical placements to deliver seminars• Do engage in presentations• Get feedback from your audience/letter• As a doctor, you will be expected to teach- researcher, leader,

educator or non-academic.

Research• “Give one example of your academic achievements and its

significance to your application for an academic Foundation Programme” (Northern)

• May form ~1/6th of a written application• You may be asked to talk about some research you have

undertaken.• BMedSci is excellent for this• Talk about study design, limitations, how it could be improved• Develop an awareness for study methods and flaws• Read a journal article, be prepared to discuss it- it’s

strengths/weaknesses and implication for practice.

Leadership

• As a doctor, you will at some point need to lead, make decisions and take responsibility.

• Examples may include committees (medical/non-medical), OTC, Band leader, Head prefect....

• Know what qualities a leader should have• Know how leadership is important in medicine

Extra-curricular activities

• Can be medical/non-medical• Music, sport, drama, flying,

reading.... • You may be asked to talk about

non-medical extra curricular activities (but how they are relevant)

• A doctor should be capable of relaxing to avoid stress

• Have a breadth and/or depth of interests.

Ethics• You may be asked about an ethical situation in your

application• Make the most of your reflections in your Cp1/Cp2

logbooks!• Colleague relations (lazy, dangerous, rude?)• Difficulties at work (You’re stressed, Patient affects you?)• Patient with additional challenges (language barrier,

different beliefs, unconventional decision?)• May relate to ‘4 principles’• Consider other factors: who else is involved,

social/economic/political factors

Emergency• “Assume you are the only person on the Admissions Ward, when a 70

year old man arrives, acutely breathless, sweating and with pains in the chest. Describe how you would manage this patient.” (Trent)

• May be asked in your application about an emergency situation and your approach to it.

• Chest pain (MI, PE, ACS?)• Abdo pain (AAA, Ectopic pregnancy?)• Unconscious (epilepsy, hypoglycaemia?)• Agitated (drink/drugs?)

• They will want you to be applying ABCDE• Will be something you are expected to deal with as an F1.

Why do you want to be an AFP doctor?

• “What qualities do you possess that will make you a suitable candidate for an Academic F2 post and what would you hope to achieve during this year? Do you anticipate any challenges in this post?” (SE Thames).

• You will have your own reasons• There are good and bad reasons....• You need to convey your enthusiasm for teaching/research/leadership• You need to reflect on your experience to make this seem a logical step• You should have an idea what you actually want from it.• You are not the finished product- with their help, you could do better.

Interview• All but one (Mersey) interviewed last year.• Interviews consisted of multiple mini interviews• Lasting approx 15-20minutes per ‘mini-interview’• Focussed on ‘Clinical’ (i.e. How good are you as a future doctor)

and ‘Academic’ (i.e. How good could you be if we give you the post?)

• Questions focussed more on the job you’ve applied for.• Questions on career intentions

• Just because you may have applied for research doesn’t exempt you from questions on education/Leadership (and vice versa)

Recurrent themes

• Emergency scenario question• “Tell me about yourself....”• “Tell me about a paper you’ve read.... How is this relevant to

practice? What are it’s strengths/weaknesses?”• “How does Leadership reflect on education/research” (and

vice-versa)• Ethical scenario question• “How would you prepare a lecture?”

“How would you handle situation x?”“How would you conduct a study on x?”

EPM

Educational Performance Measure

• Worth 50% of your score (marked out of 50)• Between 34 and 43 points for ‘rank’ within the

year. Scored in deciles- e.g. Top 10%= 43/43, bottom 10%= 34/43

• Up to 5 points for degree (1st class BMedSci= 3/5, 0 for 3rd class. PhD=5/5)

• Up to 2 points for posters/prizes/publications (Max 1 for each)

• Minimum score= 34/50 for this section.

• Please note many students nationally will not score anything for extra-degrees, posters/prizes/publications.

• Nottingham Students are at a distinct advantage nationally due to the BMedSci.

SJT

Situational Judgement Test

• Worth up to 50% of your final score (can score 0 unlike the EPM)

• Aspects similar to UKCAT/Like a personality test• Questions vary between best 3 options of 8 and

“rank the responses 1-5”.• Will not test your academic ability• Tests professionalism/ethics/handling of

difficult situations etc.

SJT and EPM

• All applicants for both National and Foundation Programmes have to sit the SJT and EPM.

• Those successful with the AFP application could find their scores for SJT/EPM contribute to their academic job allocation.

• Those unsuccessful for AFP application will enter the National recruitment cycle, where the SJT/EPM will be used to allocate a national foundation job.

• There is no penalty for being unsuccessful in applying for AFP- therefore don’t be put of applying!

Application process

• http://www.medicalcareers.nhs.uk/medical_students/applications_for_f_programmes.aspx

My top tips Look at your dissertation: The introduction could be an essay prize waiting to happen? The abstract could easily be submitted somewhere for a poster? Write my dissertation up into a research paper? Think about prizes- not many people apply, so good chance of getting one

Get involved in committees- these demonstrate skills like teamwork, leadership Ask people to nominate you for stuff- be forward in asking for things! Take opportunities to teach (get feedback) Talk to seniors researching- might have a publication to write up? Talk to current Academic trainees- a wealth of application and interview advice.

Think holistically and be a Jack of all trades rather than master of one. I.e. Don’t neglect your leadership or research skills because you want to be a medical educator!

Resources

• http://www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk/pages/academic-programmes

• http://www.medschools.ac.uk/AboutUs/Projects/clinicalacademia/Pages/default.aspx

• http://careers.bmj.com/careers/advice/view-article.html?id=20009022

• http://student.bmj.com/student/view-article.html?id=sbmj.c2007

• https://twitter.com/UKFPO

Summary

• AFP is competitive• AFP has three main strands• AFP is an excellent career informing opportunity• Is not for everyone• Plenty of Academic opportunities for both

national and AFP programmes• Can enter “Medical Academia” at later stages of

your career.

Feedback

• Please spare a couple of minutes completing this feedback questionnaire online

• http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/F5GR76S

Any questions?

• jonathanmills1@nhs.net