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NEMSA.net |
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Nottingham and East Midlands School of Anaesthesia on the net |
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Out of Programme Training/Research (OOPT/R) |
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Working Out of Programme
There are a number of reasons why a trainee may make a request to leave their NEMSA clinical training programme for a period of time. Most commonly the reason is to take up a training opportunity which is not available within the NEMSA programme – examples of this would be a fellowship in advanced paediatric anaesthesia or a placement in medicine for a trainee with an interest in ICM. A number of trainees also wish to undertake a period of time doing research related to anaesthesia. Within NEMSA we now have two 12 month research fellowships available within the programme, but there are also local research opportunities available out of programme. All training out of programme requires prospective approval from the Deanery, the RCA and PMETB if the time spent during the period of training is going to count towards the CCT. The attached documents outline the process and include the forms that the trainee must submit. It is important to map the training opportunities on offer to the RCA curriculum in order to provide evidence for the approval process. This can be seem rather daunting – Nigel Bedforth (Consultant Anaesthetist at QMC) will advise on this part of the application on behalf of NEMSA if requested. It is possible for a trainee to have a period of time out of programme whilst retaining their NTN, which does not count towards CCT. This may be for experience which is not approved by PMETB (eg in a developing country) or for a career break. These requests will have a low priority than those made for training reasons.
All requests for any time out of programme need to be made well in advance (absolute minimum six months) to the Training Programme Director (Lesley Woods for ST1 and 2 and Grainne O’Dwyer for ST3 and above and all SpRs). A number of factors are taken into consideration before these requests are approved: · How important is this request for the trainee’s career plans – essential or desirable? · Is a similar or identical opportunity available within the NEMSA programme? How will the trainee’s absence impact on the training of others?
On the whole most requests are looked upon positively. However, usually requests will not be considered until the trainee has passed the fellowship exam and is on track to achieve their intermediate training certificate. There are exceptions to this rule, particularly medical placements for those requiring this for ICM. Requests will also only be approved if a trainee is on a RITA C or the ARCP equivalent as it is not possible to provide targeted or supervised training out of programme.
If you wish to seek informal advice then please get in touch with Dr Grainne O’Dwyer or Dr Andy Norris (RCA Regional Advisor). For advice regarding research opportunities, Prof Alan Aitkenhead or Prof Ravi Mahajan should be contacted.
JM Lamb 20.1107 Updated 2/3/10—Andy Matthews |
