Overview

The Specialised Foundation Programme (SFP) allows Foundation doctors to develop their research, teaching and leadership/management skills in addition to the clinical skills developed on the standard programme. It is intended for those who mean to pursue a career in academic medicine or research, or who would like to investigate the possibility, although the skills acquired will also be of benefit across a wide range of clinical careers. As teaching is an important dimension of medical education and an academic career pathway, this programme has been developed in conjunction with WMS teaching leads, Integrated Academic Training leads and an SFP trainee in order to support the development of teaching opportunities for SFP’s joining WMS for their 4-month rotation.

 

Summary of programme

During their rotation, SFP’s will contribute to teaching Phase 3 MBChB students on their Academic Days on campus. Two levels of the programme are proposed for SFP’s, facilitation (comprising CBL facilitation) and facilitation + (comprising CBL facilitation and wider opportunities for involvement in teaching activities).

 

Benefits of the programme and alignment to trainees and WMS:

1. CBL facilitation is an area of immense need for the medical school, ideally Phase 3 facilitators will be clinical and FY2 ‘near-peer’ facilitators would provide a very valuable addition to the facilitation team;
2. Phase 3 is a 12 month programme so regardless of when trainees rotate in and out of WMS, the teaching opportunities would be available to trainees;
3. It aligns well with the maximum volume requirements for SFP’s in order to enable them to fulfil all their training programme requirements as Academic Days run fortnightly or less frequently (dependent on the time of year);
4. The two levels of the programme available provide choice of degree of engagement for SFP’s based on their other commitments and future career aspirations.

 

Facilitation will comprise:

• Acting as a CBL facilitator for CBL groups during Phase 3 academic days (approx. 5 hours), guiding medical students through the CBL case guide.
• Facilitators will receive training to undertake CBL facilitation (approximately 4-6 hours) and will have the opportunity to gather and receive feedback from students and peers.
• Facilitators can optionally undertake additional facilitation in Phase 1 and/or 2 of the MBChB.
• At the end of the rotation, a certificate/letter of recognition will be provided for the trainees’ portfolio records.

 

Facilitation+ will comprise:

• Acting as a CBL facilitator for CBL groups during Phase 3 academic days, guiding medical students through the CBL case guide. Facilitators+ can optionally undertake additional facilitation in Phase 1 and/or 2 of the MBChB.
• Involvement in wider education activities. The nature of these activities will vary according to the curriculum needs at any given time, but may include developing and revising CBL cases, developing technology enhanced learning, supernumerary advanced skills facilitation, group discussion facilitation etc.
• Facilitators+ will receive training to undertake CBL facilitation (approximately 4-6 hours), will have the opportunity to gather and receive feedback from students and peers and will be able to observe a more experienced teacher undertaking teaching.
• At the end of the rotation, a certificate/letter of recognition will be provided for the trainees’ portfolio records.
• This level is recommended for those undertaking the PGCert in Medical Education and SFP’s who are interested in making teaching a more substantive aspect of their career.

 

Enablers

The MBChB team will:

1. Provide CBL facilitator training to the incoming 3 SFP trainees at the start of their WMS rotation (April, August, December) and provide support, feedback and access to a network of medical educators, including opportunities for Facilitation+ trainees undertaking additional teaching activities [Dr Louise Davis, CBL team]
2. Provide a certificate showing of what has been undertaken at the end of the rotation for SFP trainees (using a standard, editable template).

 

The Integrated Academic Team will:

1. Communicate expectations of teaching engagement with teaching to trainees
2. Liaise with the CBL team over incoming and outgoing SFP trainees, including which are Facilitation and which are Facilitation+

Reflections of CBL Facilitation

Hear from a former SFP Trainee about their experiences in the video below, and the slides from this presentation can be viewed here;