United Kingdom Foundation Programme Office (UKFPO) application for Foundation

Year 1 in 2012

Prof Kate Thomas – Medical School

Jenny Mullins-White – Careers Consultant

Prof Lorraine Harper – Academic Applications

Dr Helen Goodyear - WM Deanery LTFT training

Nelda Cameron – WM Deanery F1

Why this meeting?

• To give some information on UKFPO for F1• To let you know of the things that you should be

thinking about now• To give you the opportunity to use your elective

period to prepare for application

NOT• For detailed information about the application

process – things may still change, therefore not wise to go into detail now!

The first thing…

• Much/most of what you will have heard will be wrong!

• Listen to authoritative sources, look on the UKFPO website, take the rest with a pinch of salt

• 95.6% of Birmingham 5th years were placed in their first choice Foundation School (FS), in 2009/10 (17 people weren’t)

• 70.5% of Birmingham 5th years were in a West Midlands FS (Nationally 60% stay local)

What else?• Careers• Process• Quartiles• Special Circumstances• Referees• The application form• Planning• Academic Applications• Contacts• Less than full time training

http://careers.walesdeanery.org/map

The bigger picture

Have a view on the road ahead. What do I need to be aware of and do to ensure that I am up to date and ready for the training?

Know what is out there!Specialties; start to look now; over 60Expected growth areas GP; increased competition for other areas such as Surgical

Check out www.medicalcareers.nhs.uk Free interactive websiteLinks to local Deanerieshttp://www.westmidlandsdeanery.nhs.uk/

“So you want to be a brain surgeon?” Copies in the Barnes Library

Knowing myself ; what kind of Doctor do I want to be?

• Generalwww.profilingforsuccess.com/main

11 page report emailed (not hotmail)

• Specific to Medicinesci59.open.ac.uk

• You will be emailed login details

• 4 attempts

Type Dynamics

Aptitude(numerical, verbal, abstract)Learning styles

Type DynamicsSummary of your preferences Why do you work? What kind of work do you want? What is your style of working? Who do you want to work with? How might others see you? Your main assets Areas to consider developing Career ideas to explore

www.profilingforsuccess.com/main

sci59.open.ac.uk

“Provides an objective match between the skill, attitudes and aspiration of individuals and those needed for success in each specialty.”

Action Orientation Academic OrientationMinor Specialty Out of Hours WorkingWorking in Teams Working with ChildrenEducating Patients Coping with UncertaintyIndependent Specialty Need for Assertiveness Routine Working Detail is Crucial

Results

• Top 10 - bottom 10

• Ranked list of all the specialties

• Comparison of best matches and scores for 12 dimensions

• Graph of the 12 dimensions

Finding out moreSpecialty lecturesWebsitesCareers Fairs Web chatswww.bmj.org.uk Alternatives….expedition Drthrough to medical writing……Impartial careers support from Jenny M-W

Plan ahead…write down reflections and examples

The timeline for 2012 applicants (you!)

Whole process on-line:• 3 October - registration open for enrolment• 10 October - application form and handbook

published. Application process open• 21 October - application process closesNote: only 2 weeks to write application• Exams w/b 07.11.11• 8 December – applicants informed of

allocation to FS

The process for applicants

• Rank all Foundation Schools. Details of available posts on UKFPO website, other details on FS websites.

• Write answers to Questions:– Question 1: additional degrees, publications,

presentations, national prizes. Max. 10 points– Questions 2-6 competancy based questions

related to the F1 Person Specification. Each maximum 10 points. (Total possible 50 points)

• Identify referees. Ask them (but not yet!).

The process for applicants- 2

• Scoring = quartile (Medical School) + question answers (done by first choice FS)

• 25 January 2012 - rank programmes of 3x4m jobs within FS

• 15 February 2012 - notification of programme and breakdown of scores

The process for Medical Schools

• Medical School gives UKFPO a list of all eligible students – anyone due to graduate July 2012

• Ranking into quartiles

• Students apply for special circumstances

• Linked applications

Academic ranking• All marks from year 1 to year 4 (re-sits = first sit %. If excluded

0%). Mitigation is taken into account.• Weighting

– size of module– clinical > non-clinical– later module > earlier modules

• Score: 1st quartile = 40, 2nd = 38, 3rd = 36 4th = 34

• About 7% separated the bottom of the first quartile from the top

of the fourth in 2007-08 and about the same in 2008-09

• Can appeal

• GECs, intercalators, repeat years, dentists, change in

modules, all adjusted for

Special circumstances

• Students can apply to Medical School for placement in a particular FS (exceptionally in a particular Trust).

• Look at the UKFPO website for the 2011 criteria – not likely to change

• Evidence is very important- read what it asks for• Educational special circumstances• Applications in October

The 3 criteria

– Criterion 1: The applicant is a parent or legal guardian with significant caring responsibilities for a child or children under the age of 18. This would normally mean the child(ren) residing primarily with the applicant.

– Criterion 2: The applicant is the primary carer for someone who is disabled (as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act 2005) (expected to be a partner, sibling or parent).

– Criterion 3 : The applicant has a medical condition (physical or psychological) or disability for which local follow up is an absolute requirement, as confirmed by a report from an Occupational Health physician or an appropriate medical specialist.

Special circumstances - 2

• VERY stringent criteria

• Medical School approval does not guarantee FS agreement

• Can appeal

• SELF REFERRAL

• See Kate Thomas to discuss

Special Circumstances for 2010

• Nationally 286 applicants: 261 approved– Carer for a child 167– Carer for a disabled person 28– Personal health problem 67– Educational special circumstances 19

(Data missing for 5)

Linked applications

You may link your application to another applicant’s in order for you to be placed in the same foundation school

They must also link to youYou are both allocated based on the lowest scoring

applicant’s scoreYou cannot “un-link” once your application is

submittedSome foundation schools will not guarantee that

linked applicants are in the same area. Check foundation school websites for more information on their policies

Referees

• After programme allocation asked to confirm your application

• Do not get you the job!• Have to know you

– A clinical referee: practising hospital consultant, GP or associate specialist

– A Medical School referee: Professor, Reader, Senior Lecturer, Lecturer, Personal Mentor, SSC supervisor (PHP, Poster)

Things to think about now

• Total score - 100 (40 quartile, 60 questions)• 25% of all UK medical students are in each

quartile. 25% of you will be in the fourth. • 95.6% of fifth years in 2010 got their first choice

FS. (5th highest after Belfast, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds)

• Key question scores: - Birmingham 2010: 48 - 98, median 79.1 (national median 78.3)

The Application form

Is designed to assess your professional and personal skills:– Has 8 sections, Personal (name, contact details, etc)– Preferences (ranking all foundation schools in order

of preference, 1=1st choice)– Qualifications (educational qualifications)– Questions (5 questions which will be scored. 200

words each)– Also Clinical skills (self assessment of your own

practical and clinical skills), Equal opps (equal opportunities monitoring information), References, Submit

The 2011 Application Questions

Yours will be similar!

Question 1 – List your educational achievements

• Maximum points available: 10 points

• PART A – Additional degrees (max. 5 points)• More than one additional qualification (eg BSc and PhD) choose the one

that will give you the highest score. • If you indicate that you have an additional degree, three additional

boxes will appear for you to complete. These are: Subject of Qualification, Educational Institution and Year. Failure to complete these fields will result in the degree not being recognised, and a score of 0 being allocated.

• Number of points– 0 Primary Medical Qualification only– 1 Honours degree 3rd class, unclassified or ordinary degree – 2 Honours degree 2.2 class– 3 Honours degree 2.1 class– 4 Masters degree, Honours degree 1st class, Bachelor of Dental Science

(BDS), B Vet Med– 5 Doctoral degree (PhD, DPhil, etc)

PART B: Other educational achievements (5 points)

• Must relate to your activities in higher education. Please do not enter any achievements in college or related to musical or sports achievements. They will not gain any points.

• List your nationally recognised prizes• Name of prize The full formal title of the prize• Year The year the prize was awarded• Awarding Body The name of the organisation/institution awarding the prize• Details of prize Details of what the prize was for, the level of competition, the number applying and how the prize was awarded.• Contact for verification. This can be a web address or a contact

name/address/telephone number for a person who can officially verify details of the award.

• Details of only two prizes can be submitted. If you have been awarded more than two prizes, list the most prestigious and competitive prize received.

• This must be a FIRST PRIZE. Second or third prize, or honourable mention does not qualify for points in this section.

• A prize is awarded for achievement, rather than being an activity that is to be carried out. Therefore, the following are NOT considered prizes:

Bursaries, Elective awards, Grants, Scholarships, Funding for research projects, Anything relating to funding, University prizes

• List your peer reviewed publications• Authors Please list all authors in the order they appear in the publication. Your name must be in capitals• Publication title State the title as it has been published• Year Year of publication• Journal/Book Title State the full title of the journal or book• Volume/page State both the volume and page numbers• PMID Please insert the PubMed ID (PMID). If you do not have a PMID, the

publication will not gain any points. • There is space on the application form for two publications only. If you have more than

two, you must decide which two publications you wish to use.List your national presentations• Date of meeting Dates including year of meeting• Meeting Title of meeting and location of meeting• Organiser Name of organisation responsible for meeting• Presentation Title Title of presentation• Authors Please list all authors in the order they appear in the presentation. Your name must be in capitals.• Oral or poster presentations must be given at a national or international level and must

present your academic work. Presentations you give during the course of your degree, or extra curricular activities i.e. BMA conference presentations, do not count. You do not need to have been present at the conference to have poster presentations count. There is only space on the application form for two presentations. If you have more than two, you must decide which presentations you wish to include.

• National presentations mean all of the following: England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, UK or any other nation.

Question 2• Maximum points available: 10 points     Limit: 200 words

• Effective team working can have a significant impact on the quality of the patient experience.

• Describe a clinical case you have observed where there has been a multi-disciplinary approach to discharge planning. – Describe how the interactions between the multi-disciplinary

team impacted on the quality of the patient’s care. – What have you learned from this experience about effective

multi-disciplinary team working and – how will you put this into practice as a foundation doctor?

 

Question 3

• Maximum points available: 10 points     Limit: 200 words• Learning happens in a variety of contexts, some of

which are opportunistic and some of which are planned.

– Describe a clinical situation which provided you with an opportunistic learning experience.

– What approach did you take to consolidate and extend this learning?

– Compare this approach to how you may follow up a planned learning experience.

– How will you use these experiences of learning to improve the quality of teaching others?

 

Question 4

• Maximum points available: 10 points     Limit: 200 words• Being able to prioritise tasks is an integral competence of

a practising doctor and may be challenged by many factors.

• You are the only foundation doctor on a busy surgical ward, and you feel under pressure to complete the tasks expected of you. A foundation doctor from another surgical team asks if you will hold their bleep for the second time this week as they want to go to theatre to observe an operation. – What would your initial response be to your colleague? – What factors would influence this response? – If you had to hold the bleep, how would you prioritise the

tasks? – What additional learning needs does this situation highlight

for you?

Question 5

• Maximum points available: 10 points     Limit: 200 words• Communicating information to patients can be a complex

undertaking.

– Describe a clinical consultation that you have observed where the specific cultural, social or family circumstances of the patient posed additional challenges.

– Identify the techniques used within this consultation that contributed to this patient’s experience.

– What other approaches could have been used in this situation?

– What did you learn from this which you can apply to your future clinical practice?

Question 6

• Maximum points available: 10 points     Limit: 200 words

• Essential attributes of a foundation doctor are the ability to deal effectively with pressure and the ability to prioritise tasks.

• Describe two different personal achievements to demonstrate that you possess both of these qualities, relating each achievement to a single attribute. – For each attribute, give one specific example of how

your achievement can contribute towards improving your performance as a foundation doctor.

Scoring

• Scored in your first choice FS

• 2 scorers work independently, at least one is clinical

• Horizontal not vertical

• Only see your answer – none of your demographics or quartile

Allocation algorithm & matching process

Allocation to foundation school (8 Dec 2011)

• Applicants are allocated based on their preferences first, then application score

Matching to programme (15 Feb 2012)

• Foundation schools each have their own process for matching to programme. Check the foundation school websites for more information. (Most match to programme based on their score first, then preferences (highest scoring applicants get first pick)

Your work must be your own

•Medical school staff, clinical tutors and former scorers have been told that they cannot give you direct coaching and advice as it is unfair to students at those schools who do not provide it

•Applicants must confirm that the answers to the application questions are their own before they submit the application

•The situations you use in your answers must have been experienced by you personally – not something you heard about through colleagues or lecturers

Verification

• If you are unable to verify your answers, the foundation school director may require you to attend an interview to discuss your answers

• Applicants unable to verify the veracity of their answers to the satisfaction of their foundation school will be removed from the recruitment round and referred to the GMC

Planning and preparation

Advice to students:• Read the person specification for Foundation Dr

• Sign up for UKFPO email updates -do not miss vital information while on Elective

• Collect dates and titles of relevant qualifications, publications, presentations, posters and prizes.

• Think about who you might ask to act as referees

Examples of skills

• Team working – can work effectively with others

• Communication

• Dealing with pressure, overcoming setbacks or challenges

• Organising and prioritising

• Clinical Skills - putting patients at centre of care

Experiences – but it depends on the questions!

Course work/ Placements/ Elective• researching and planning dissertation or SSC work,

working on group projects, designing and delivering presentations, working with patients …

Work Experience (paid or unpaid)• providing high level of customer service, taking on

additional responsibilities, dealing with data accurately…

Clubs/Societies• organising events, raising funds, persuading others to

get involved …Personal life/interests • captaining a local sports team, arranging your gap year,

choosing to study in a different country…

Things you can do now

• Think about how you’ll rank the Foundation schools – competition ratios

• Check the number of posts available in each• Research for programme and Trust-specific information• Note: if you turn down a FS you withdraw from the whole

process• Useful website www.mmc.nhs.uk gives web addresses

for all 15 Deaneries in England and links to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

• http://www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk/pages/home - info about process and key documents e.g. Foundation Applicant’s Handbook

F1 Allocation 2011 - Application Scores by Trust

                   

Oversubscription

• This year 187 applicants not yet allocated a programme

• 3 Birmingham students

• Between December and August estimated 400 jobs will become available

More things to think about now

• Questions have to be based on job specification. Look it up.

• Practise last year’s questions• Start thinking of examples, use your elective,

your fifth year attachments or Y5 SSA to gather some. Write them down. This may not help!

• Look at the website• Most people will end up where they want to,

doing a job they want to. There are enough F1 jobs. There is no need to panic!

2013

• In 2013 the process is changing

• This will not affect you!

• Situational judgement test (SJT)

• Possibly deciles rather than quartiles?

BUT...

• You will be asked to be involved in an SJT pilot

Academic Foundation Posts

Professor Lorraine Harper

About academic foundation posts

• Provide opportunity to develop research teaching and leadership/management skills as well as basic competencies

• Intended to benefit those who plan to follow an academic route as well as those choosing alternative medical careers

• Programmes vary but all will allow completion of clinical competencies as well as providing additional skills– This means you will have to work harder or smarter– Be organised and proactive

• To succeed requires ambition, organisation and maturity

• 5% of medical students achieve an academic foundation post

Is an academic foundation programme right for you?

• Are you confident in your clinical skills?– Learning research and other skills reduces

your clinical experience but you will still be expected to achieve all your clinical competencies

• Do you have a proven academic record?• Can you demonstrate a real interest in

academic medicine?

Academic Foundation Programmes

• 12 programmes West Midlands deanery

• 6 x 4 month posts over 2 years

• One academic post in each foundation year

• F1- majority of time must be based in clinical medicine

– Exposure to academic medicine

• F2 - a 4 month full time research placement is feasible

• For other programmes see https://www.application.mmc.nhs.uk/cgi-bin/list_deaneries.cgi?caid=6.7479.1223890541

Academic Foundation Posts

• Happens very quickly after your return to 5th year • National: 1-10 June. Local part 6 June to 12 September • Can apply to 3 Units of Application• Offers in September, 1 week to decide whether to accept

an offer• UKFPO will publish details on its website March 7th

• Your job to look out for the information!• Think about it now• Happens before the national application process in

October 2011, so if unsuccessful you can go into main application process.

Example academic application form

• Academic achievements

• Teaching achievements

• Non-academic achievements

• Professional achievements (Good Medical Practice)

• Teamwork

• Leadership

• Reasons for applying

• Note: applicants are interviewed

Who can apply?

• Applicants must show potential to fulfil academic role while still achieving clinical competencies– Minimum requirements similar to normal

foundation programmes– Desirable qualities

• previous academic experience – intercalation • Academic achievement –prizes, publications

or presentations• Commitment – participation in research

project

What makes an academic foundation programme different?

• Dedicated research and education time– Academic time spent as blocks or day release– Attached to department with recognised

academic links• Project work

– Opportunity to undertake own project under supervision of senior academic

• Success in your hands– Self directed learning and achievement– Learn skills that translate across disciplines

Further information• Tuesday 22nd March 5.30pm room WF42

An opportunity to discuss academic applications in greater depth, including with applicants and academic trainees

• Tuesday 28th June 5.30pm room WF42

An opportunity to discuss academic interviews with successful applicants from previous years

• http://www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk/news/story/ukfpo-academic-rough-guide-published

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

• https://www.application.mmc.nhs.uk/cgi-bin/list_deaneries.cgi?caid=6.7479.1223890541

Useful Contacts

• www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk• General Queries: MDS-STUDENTS-UKFPO@bham.ac.uk• Careers and Employability Service careers-

centre@bham.ac.uk or– Jenny Mullins-White: MullinJY@adf.bham.ac.uk

• Dr Helen Goodyear – flexible training• (helen.goodyear@westmidlands.nhs.uk)• Dr Lorraine Harper – academic applications

(l.harper@bham.ac.uk)• West Midlands Foundation School Manager -

Nelda.Cameron@westmidlands.nhs.uk]