Each year the University of Bristol run a series of MMIs (Multiple Mini Interviews), interviewing 80 candidates per day - with two sessions of 20 in the morning and two session of 20 in the afternoon. There are two parallel streams being interviewed synchronously, with 10 stations in each stream, at 6 minutes per station (5 minutes for the task/question and 1 minute change over). There is one interviewer at each station asking a question or acting out a scenario and each has a score sheet and guidance on scoring. MMIs are the final stage of the admissions process and offers are made based on candidate's performance at MMIs. 

We are looking for colleagues from across the NHS to act as assessors at the MMIs, I am afraid that there is no payment as such for your time, but we, and the GMC, recognise the important role that medical student selection plays in shaping the future health service so, all asessors will receive a certificate of contribution, evidence which may be useful in appraisal, revalidation and job planning.

I am happy to be able to confirm that this cycle's Medical MMIs will again be held in the Anson Room, Richmond Building, Queens Road (Student's Union) on the following dates -  

Tues 21st, Weds 22nd, Thurs 23rd  November

Tues 5th, Weds 6th, Thurs 7th December 

Tues 13th, Weds 14th, Thurs 15th February 

Tues 20th, Weds 21st, Thurs 22nd February  

Tues 13th, Weds 14th, Thurs 15th March 

There are refreshments and a briefing upon arrival and a lunch voucher is provided for the Balloon Bar on the ground floor.

I am looking for assessors that are available for either a half day (full morning - 09:00-12:20  or full afternoon - 12:20-15:40) or the whole day - 09:00-15:40. 

If you would like to take part in this please email jo.bennett@bristol.ac.uk

Published on behalf of Jo Bennett, University of Bristol

MMI’s and Training days 

There is a training session on Monday 10th October 14:00-15:30, in the Great Hall, Wills Memorial Building.

The MMI's are being held on the following dates in the Anson Room, Student's Union. 

• Tues 22^nd, Weds 23^rd, Thurs 24^th  November
• Tues 6^th, Thurs 8^th  December
• Mon 23^rd, Tues 24^th, Weds 25^th January
• Tues 14^th, Weds 15^th, Thurs 16^th March

 The full day runs from 09:00 - 15:50 - morning session 09:00-12:20, afternoon session 12:20-15:50. Lunch break from 12:10-12:40 (lunch and refreshments provided). 

Contact: jo.bennett@bristol.ac.uk

Geriatrics for Juniors 2016 - Saturday October 8th – Nottingham Conference Centre

Geriatrics for Juniors is a one-day conference, designed for Foundation Doctors, Core Medical and GP Trainees.

It aims to deliver relevant and useful clinical updates in all the main sub-specialties of Geriatric Medicine, in order to improve the standard of care for older patients.

• A full day of relevant and interesting educational sessions related to Geriatric Medicine.
• Practical and useful updates for your day-to-day practice on the hospital medical wards.
• Sessions on career choices, CV building, applying to specialty, and the truth about life as a registrar.
• A certificate of attendance for your e-portfolio.
• There will also be a ‘World Cafe’ of informal discussions regarding career options, applying to specialty, and tips for improving your clinical practice within the various sub-specialty fields.
• CotE Champions Poster Competition
• We are hosting a poster competition for audits and quality improvement projects performed by junior doctors which have improved the care of elderly patients (aeme.org.uk/g4j16-posters). Winners will be invited to display their posters at this national conference and the very best will be crowned our 'CotE Champions'.

Please visit aeme.org.uk/g4j16 to register, places are limited so sign up soon!

The FMLM is running a pair of Leadership Development days in Birmingham on 5 July and London on 27 July. The days are for GPs transitioning into new leadership roles whether at board, locality or practice level.

This day is designed to support you in developing the necessary leadership skills, knowledge and behaviours to flourish in a range of clinical leadership roles, both within and outside of your practice in federations, CCGs and elsewhere.
CCGs or GP federations might want to support colleagues to attend to support CPs in new leadership roles within their organisations and enabling succession planning.
Have you recently taken on a new leadership role or are you supporting colleagues transitioning into new leadership roles?

Perhaps you want to explore a portfolio career involving clinical leadership?

Join us and Register now for only £245* in:
*FMLM membership discount are also available
Birmingham on 5 July or London on 27 July
The programme will cover:
• The transition to a new leadership role
• Fearless conversations
• Developing personal and team resilience
• Overcoming learned helplessness: Leading innovation and change
• Leadership in action: An inspirational personal career story from a GP focusing on the challenges of transitioning to a new leadership role
• How to get the job
• Coaching and mentoring (optional opportunity for speed coaching)
• Developing personal and team resilience

Faculty of Medical Leadership and Managements. 

FMLM team

Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management

From behalf of School of Primary Care: 

We have been working with our Dental colleagues in Health Education working across the South West to provide a course entitled Management of Oral & Dental Disease for the Non-Dental Professionals. This course has been set for the 12th of October 2016 from 09:00 – 17:00 at the Future Inns Hotel, Bristol. 

This course is free of charge for GP Trainees and Trainers however registration is essential. To find out more about this course and to register please click the following link

Before you are able to book onto the course you will need to register onto the system by clicking the new user link. 

Places are limited so please do register soon if you would like to attend.

Dear Trainees

I have just heard that the Primary Care School has registered a 100% completion rate for the GMC trainee survey this year. And what’s more this also applies across the whole of Severn PGME - all 2078 trainees across the various specialities in Severn have completed the survey this year!

Thank you for the time and thought you have put into this task - the survey provides valuable information in allowing us to understand what problems you experience with your posts and helps us work with your supervisors to improve them.

Simon Newton, Head of School of Primary Care (Severn)

All Supervisors, Educators, Trainees and colleagues are warmly invited to nominate ST3/4 trainees for this year's Excellence Awards. Please do help to ensure that the full breadth of achievements within and alongside GP training are recognised.

Just complete the nomination form and send it to Pauline.harper@southwest.hee.nhs.uk by Friday 17th June 2016.

See the Awards pages on the website for full information, but the following awards are available this year:
• Academic/ Research Excellence Award (£200), supported by Avon LMC
• Clinical Excellence Award (£200), supported by Wesleyan
• Community Contribution Excellence Award (£200), supported by East Somerset Trainers' Group
• Green Practice Excellence Award (£200), supported by Dr Tim Ballard
• Leadership Excellence Award, supported by Frome Medical Practice
• Learning and Development [Education] Excellence Award, supported by the MDU
• Excellence Award for Medical Work outside GP Training, supported by BMA
• Excellence Award for Global Health, supported by Severn Faculty RCGP
• Excellence Award for Personal Achievement outside medicine, supported by Swindon Trainers' Group
Plus the GPST Programme (Patch) Awards (£100 each), sponsored by Brisdoc, and the Robin While Prize (£500) for the GP Trainee of the year.

As part of a programme of works, there will be a 4 hour service outage to the Trainee ePortfolio during the weekend of the 28th and 29th of May.

This is to allow us undertake changes to the firewalls.

This work is scheduled to start at 12 midnight on Saturday 28th May until 4am on the 29th (i.e. a 4 hour window).

A support system will be in place to ensure that the TeP comes back up correctly following the outage.

Given the timings we hope this will cause minimal disruption. 

When organising OOH shifts trainees are reminded about the European Working Time Regulations and need to be compliant with these. The main features are:

• a maximum average of 48 hours working time each week, measured over a reference period of 26 weeks for doctors
• a minimum of 11 hours continuous rest in 24 hours
• a minimum of 24 hours continuous rest in 7 days (or 48 hrs in 14 days)
• a minimum of a 20 minute break in work periods of over 6 hours
• for night workers, an average of no more than 8 hours work in 24 over the reference period.

More details can be found on NHS Employers page

It is the responsibility of trainees to let their practices know if they need to adjust their daytime practice working hours to be compliant eg if finishing an OOH shift at 11pm should not start work the following day until 10am. However trainees still need to do their usual 40 hour working week so if starting late will need to make up the time elsewhere in the week or at a later date. Hours worked can be averaged over a several month time period. This can be done in a number of ways and how trainees and practices choose to do this will be up to individuals to organise. Trainees need to remember that practices usually need at least a months notice and ideally 6 weeks or more to re-organise surgeries as most will have surgeries open for booking at least a month in advance so re-organising surgeries at short notice is very time consuming. If it is not possible or trainees do not wish to organise a late start then an evening OOH shift could be finished at 10pm as an alternative. If trainees plan to work an overnight shift these should only be booked for a Friday or Saturday night unless the trainee has arranged to take the following day off and if working on a Friday night they should ensure an adequate break between daytime work and starting an overnight shift.

The Health Education England (Severn & Peninsula Postgraduate Medical Education) is holding its 5th Annual SAS Doctors’ Conference at Plymouth on 10-11 May 2016. Programme links below:

Peninsula deanery

Severn deanery

1. With 27 speakers/ facilitators delivering 12 Plenary and 24 parallel sessions/ workshops, we are confident the delegates will find it worth their time.

The two morning Plenary sessions on Wednesday 11 may 2016 are very relevant to all doctors so we have reserved 100 places for medical students, Foundation Year Doctors, GPs and Consultants to attend the following talks only:
a. Generation & Beyond, by Dr Jeremy Langton, Vice President of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (on doctors expected to work beyond 65 years of age); at 09.45-10.15.
b. History and the future of Medical Education in the UK, by Prof Val Wass, Emeritus Professor of Medical Education, Faculty of Health at Keele University; at 10.15-10.45 with a QA session 10.45-11.15.

c. Registration will be free, on a first come first served basis.

 
d. To register, please send an emailwith your Name, Job Title, and Trust Name

We are seeking to recruit enthusiastic GPs and senior GPSTs to be “GP Careers Champions” within the Severn Deanery. Thanks to the 100+ GPs who have already signed up - we are now looking to expand numbers as the project becomes more widely advertised.
The scheme is part of a national drive to boost GP recruitment and showcase what a fantastic career General Practice is.

Champions will:
• Be matched to a medical student or junior doctor who has expressed an interest in General Practice as a career and who would like to know more.
• Offer mentorship in a method convenient to both parties – this could be in the form of a taster day, or discussion via email, phone, skype or face-to-face.
Time commitment to the scheme can be flexible and be easily manageable around other work commitments.
As a Champion you will receive a certificate from the deanery acknowledging your participation and role in the scheme. The scheme fulfils the GMC good medical practice guidance on mentoring and provides an opportunity to take on an educational role.
If you are enthusiastic about your career, friendly, approachable and would like to get involved please complete the link below to register your interest.

If you would like further information or a copy of our FAQs, please contact here.

Health Education England, Severn School of Primary Care & Severn Faculty RCGP

The MDU GP Trainee Excellence Awards and Graduation

Wednesday 20th July 2016, from 2.00pm

Bristol Pavilion (Gloucestershire Cricket Club)

You are warmly invited to attend this joint annual event, which forms an important date in the GP Trainee, Severn School of Primary Care and RCGP Severn Faculty calendar. We particularly look forward to hearing about the GP trainees’ many and varied activities, and celebrating the ST3/4s’ completion of training in Severn at this annual ‘Graduation’ ceremony. Our guest speaker this year is Dr Phil Hammond who is a well-known doctor, comedian and campaigner. His Michael Lennard Lecture promises to be entertaining and stimulating.

Do come and celebrate GP training in Severn, and book your place using https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/PQQKWVS

The MDU GP Trainee Excellence Awards

We are delighted that the MDU continues to be our main sponsor. Full information about the Excellence Awards, GPST Programme Awards the Robin While Prize, including the nomination and selection process/criteria, is available on the Trainee pages of the http://primarycare.severndeanery.nhs.uk/training/trainees/awards/gp-trainee-excellence-awards-and-graduation-2016/

We are seeking to re-launch the Retainer Scheme for GPs in the Swindon CCG area and we are inviting applications from doctors who are interested in joining the scheme.

Applicants would be applying to work 2-4 sessions per week in a practice within the Swindon CCG area. We have identified practices across the Swindon area that have expressed an interest in hosting a doctor on the scheme.

Doctors will be employed by the practice and the salary will be negotiable with the employing practice.

The Retainer Scheme is designed for GPs who are registered on the Performers List and are able to work but have additional constraints on their availability and may need extra support in the workplace. This includes parents of young children, or children with illnesses or disabilities, doctors who themselves have illness or disability, or those who are carers for other family members. Also in this group are doctors whose co-parents travel or work abroad for a large proportion of time. Doctors on the Retainer Scheme are not allowed to do more than 6 sessions per week of medical work in total, and only a maximum of 4 of these can be in the host practice.

Application form available from jacqueline.pullin@southwest.hee.nhs.uk.

Please return to jacqueline.pullin@southwest.hee.nhs.uk by Friday, 25 March 2016.

Applicants should be available to start work within 3-6 months.

The RCGP reviews the GP curriculum each year and makes changes where appropriate in response to user feedback and to ensure the content is kept up-to-date.

We are not planning any significant changes in 2016, but we have submitted a number of minor changes to GMC through their ‘administrative change process’. Changes which can been submitted through this process are limited to specific types, including corrections, clarifications, updating resources and changes resulting from national initiatives mandated by GMC.

The changes we submitted have been approved by GMC for immediate implementation. All trainees in GP specialty training programmes should now follow the 2016 version of the curriculum, which is available on the RCGP website (curriculum statements page, and the online curriculum) and through the Trainee ePortfolio.

Most of the changes are very minor, such as typograhical corrections, amendments in response to changes in curriculum terminology, amendments to improve understanding, and updating information about resources.

End-of-Life Care module

The GMC asked us to review the curriculum in the light of the review of the Liverpool Care Pathway by the Leadership Alliance on the Care of Dying People (LACDP). As a result of this review we have made some changes to the End-of-Life Care module.

These changes place increased emphasis on providing individualised care, focused on the needs and wishes of dying people and their families. They do not add any additional requirements to training or assessments, but clarify and re-emphasise certain aspects.

You can see these changes in the track-change version, which shows the main amendments to the module:

Module 3.09 End-of-Life Care (track change) [PDF].

Information about the changes, along with the revised version of the curriculum, have been posted on the RCGP website

 Hot Topics GP Update Course

Tuesday 26th April 2016

NB Medical is delighted to be working with Swindon GP Education Trust to run a Hot Topics GP Update course on Tuesday 26th April 2016.

NOW AVAILABLE TO BOOK ONLINE THOUGH NB MEDICAL http://www.nbmedical.com/gp-course-access

You will need to input the suitable code (please see the below)

For 15 years NB Medical Education has been the market leader in running GP Update courses in the UK and Ireland, with over 10,000 GP’s attending our courses per year. We are passionate about primary care, and committed to helping busy primary care professionals practice evidence-based medicine in an easy, time efficient way.

Our teaching is focused on the patient, the problems they bring us and how best we can help them.

The "Hot Topics" course consists of a series of short ‘TED-style’ engaging presentations blending evidence and cases, followed by discussion which may have an impact on your practice. The course comes with a number of extra resources to give it incredible ‘added value’

• A fully referenced book with recent summaries of the evidence for approximately 150 clinical Hot Topics commonly seen in primary care. Most of our delegates use this every day, like they use the BNF. All of the material is up to date and the material is completely 100% independent from any external influence.
• 12 months access to the on-line electronic version of the book which is instantly searchable. All the original references and resources for GPs (e.g. links to on-line clinical calculators) and patients (e.g. patient information leaflets) are hyperlinked and just one click away.
• NEW A CPD tracker with which you can track your CPD, including external CPD and your work with the book. At the end of the year with just one click it will collate all of this into a single pdf summary for your appraisal

Continuing Professional Development with NB Medical

Each delegate will be presented with a certificate of attendance awarding 6 CPD credits for attending the day. The

"Hot Topics" course is accredited by the Royal College of General Practitioners. On accrediting the course the RCGP assessor commented that:-

The Hot Topics GP update course is an excellent course with outstanding feedback from participants. The course is clearly designed with busy GPs in mind. The KISS summaries and Guide are an innovative idea to reinforce the course content and learning materials. It is good to note an emphasis on leadership, teaching, audit and commissioning in addition to relevant clinical topics.’

Course details and venue

Date: Tuesday 26th April 2016

Venue: Swindon Town Football Club, County Ground, County Road, Swindon, SN1 2ED

Registration: 8:30am – 9:30am

Lecture: 9:30am – 5:00pm

Course fees:  

BESPOKE ACESS CODES:-

Non set members: SWDN-82797

Set Members: SWDM-82796

Saturday 12th March 2016. 09:15 – 16:00. Wills Memorial Building, Bristol.

Tickets £7.50 to include a series of talks, workshops and a panel discussion from 14 inspiring speakers as well as mid-morning refreshments and lunch. Available to buy online

Poster abstract applications open until midnight on Sunday 28th February. Posters will be displayed over lunchtime and judged by several of our speakers along with the GPSoc Committee. Prize available for the winner and certificates for all participants. Submit your abstracts here

The Programme

09:15-09:30 = Registration in Coutt’s Lecture Theare

09:30-09:40 = Welcome (in Coutts Lecture Theatre)

09:40-11:00 = Portfolio Career Panel (Speakers involved sit on the stage and each talk in turn for approximately 15 minutes followed by Q&A)

Panel lists

- Dr Jess Buchan (Primary Care Teaching Fellow, Year 4 Primary Care unit lead & GP Partner in Long Ashton, Bristol.): Experiences of undergraduate teaching and working abroad for a year as a GP in New Zealand

- Dr Laura Jarvis (RAF GP): General practice in the Armed Forces

- Dr Elaine Lunts (CCG paediatric advisor and sexual health commissioning work. GP partner in Bristol):Developing a specialist interest -paediatrics and sexual healthin the context of primary care

- Dr Shaba Nabi (Pulse columnist, Bristol GP Partner, GP Trainer, GP Appraiser, CVD Clinical Lead for Bristol CCG, LMC committee representative and mum of 3): Medial journalism, GP training and appraising and involvement with the LMC and CCG

11:00– 11:20 = Dr Simon Watkins (Undergraduate GP teacher and GP partner at The Tolsey Surgery in Wiltshire): Comparison of salaried and partner GPs and experiences of rural general practice

11:20 – 11:50 = 1st workshop (3 workshops running simultaneously in 3 separate rooms)

- Dr Anna Harrison (Severn Deanery GPST4): The GP training programme and development of a student/trainee mentor scheme as part of GPST4 leadership year

- Zoe Bush (5th year UoB medical student): ‘From Medical Student to Doctor' – applying for Foundation jobs, elective planning & presenting a poster at a national conference.

- Professor Chris Salisbury (Chair of the RCGP Scientific Foundation Board, Head of Bristol Centre for Academic Primary Care, British Journal of General Practice editorial board & part-time Bristol GP): ‘The Future of General Practice’ - drawing on areas of research including new forms of consulting

11:50 – 12:15 = Break (refreshments provided) – Room 3.23.

12:15 – 12:45 = 2nd workshop (repeat of morning workshops. See speakers above. Delegates will choose 2/3 of the workshops to attend over the course of the morning).

12:45 – 13:05 = Dr James Seddon (GPST3): Development of a general practice intercalated BSc at Bristol (including Q&A and chance for more feedback during poster presentations over lunch. N.B Dr Seddon may be on paternity leave. If so, a colleague will stand in or GPSoc committee will give short talk on iBSc plans using information given by Dr Seddon)

13:05 – 14:00 = Lunch and student poster presentations - Room 3.23. Posters will be displayed in the refreshments & reception room for delegates to read. Pre-Clinical student reflective pieces and student extra-curricular material will also be displayed.

Dr Andrew Blythe (Director of Assessments and Feedback, UoB Faculty of Health Sciences)will be talking to students about the new Primary Care textbook ‘Essential Primary Care’ co-authored by himself and Dr Jess Buchan (one of our morning panellists) at a stall in the refreshments & reception room.

Afternoon Talks - Coutt’s lecture theatre

14:00 – 14:30 = Professor Sarah Purdy (Associate Dean of the University of Bristol Faculty of Health Sciences, leader of Bristol Health Partners Avoidable Admissions Health Integration Team, RCGP Fellow & Bristol GP): ‘How do we avoid hospital admissions?’ (including overview of own pathway into academic general practice/advice on how to get there)

14:30 – 14:50 = Dr Rhiannon Field (F1 and 2015 RCGP Severn Faculty Elective Bursary winner): Elective presentation and elective planning advice

14:50 – 15:05 = Angus Thorne (Medical Sciences BSc Student – attached to St Leonard’s Research Practice with Sir Denis Pereira Gray): ‘Continuity of Care’

Keynote Address – Coutt’s lecture theatre

15:05 – 15:45 = Sir Denis Pereira Gray (Previous Chairman of the Academy of Royal Colleges, previous RCGP President, Founder of the Exeter University Postgraduate general practice department, Professor, author and GP for 38 years at St Leonard's Research Practice in Exeter): ‘Why choose a career in general practice?’ Advice on working in academic general practice, experiences of clinical medicine and reflection on the current challenges facing general practice.

15:45 – 16:00 = GPSoc Committee: Poster presentation results and close.

Venue Information

Wills Memorial Building, Queens Rd, Bristol BS8 1RJ

The event will take place on the 3rd floor. We will be using Coutt’s Lecture Theatre (3.31), lecture theatre 3.32 and seminar room 3.33 (all 3rd floor).

N.B all small talks held in Coutt’s Lecture Theatre (3.31). Workshops spread over 3.31, 3.32 and 3.33. Refreshments, lunch & poster displays will be held in room 3.23.

For the attention of APDs / Education Trust Core Group Members / TPDs colleagues. 

Dr Phil Hammond, a GP, journalist, broadcaster, campaigner and comedian, speaking on 'Dr Phil's NHS Revolution'

It will be held on Tuesday 8th March 2016 with hot supper from 18.30 for 19.30 start at the Hatherley Manor Hotel, Down Hatherley Lane, Gloucester, GL2 9QA http://www.hatherleymanor.com/location/.

There is parking available on site. Please join us for what promises to be an entertaining talk and all are welcome to stay for our AGM.

Please click the following link http://www.ggpet.org.uk/courses.php to book on line or e-mail Rachel.Gadsden@glos.nhs.uk or julie.nevin@glos.nhs.uk directly to book your place.

This teaching opportunity and the workshop have approval and support from the Deanery

The Centre for Academic Primary Care is pleased to offer GPs in training an opportunity to develop their teaching skills. Our free half day workshop is intended for GP STs who would like to teach students in their GP practice for 4 sessions in the academic year 2016-17.

It will prepare you for teaching 3rd year medical students in your practice and provide you with hands on experience for some of the teaching competencies in the RCGP curriculum. Also, good revision for your CSA exam and something else to add to your CV?

This year you can choose from three workshop dates. Each workshop will cover the same topics
- Overview of Year 3 medical student teaching
- Planning a teaching session
- Top tips for good teaching
- Effective feedback giving

The workshops – choose one only
2nd June 1.30-5pm Deanery Hse, Vantage Park, Bristol
8th June 9.30-1.00pm Academy, Yeovil District Hospital, Yeovil
14th June 9.30-1.00pm Downsview Hse, Great Western Hospital Swindon

The facilitators
Bristol – Barbara Laue, Swindon – Kate Digby, Yeovil – Andy Eaton and Laurence Huntley

To book, please email phc-teaching@bristol.ac.uk not Pauline Harper

In your email, please state the following
- That you would like to teach a group of students in your practice in 2016-17
- That you have your GP Trainer’s permission
- Name, address and contact details for your training practice and GP Trainer
- Which workshop you would like to attend

You need to let us know by 11th May 2016

For more information please email  phc-teaching@bristol.ac.uk

The Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences at the University of the West of England are hosting an open evening to showcase our new Physician Associate Studies Programme. Physician Associates are a new healthcare professional who, while not a doctor, works to the medical model, with the attitudes, skills and knowledge base to deliver holistic care and treatment within the general medical and/or general practice team under defined levels of supervision.  This new programme will be part of the Allied Health Professions Department and will incorporate a primary care focus. The open evening will involve numerous speakers, who will review this emerging professional group and the potential for this role in the Primary Care setting. The evening will also include demonstrations of the teaching facilitates here at UWE, including the simulation wards, Virtual Environment in Radiotherapy suite, X-ray room, Radiotherapy Planning suite and Paediatric Suite. The evening will be an excellent opportunity to network with colleagues in Primary Care across the region. 

The welcome reception will take place on Wednesday 24th February 2016 from 18:00-20:00 at our Glenside Campus.

RSVP to jessica.coggins@uwe.ac.uk by Wednesday 10th February. Please state any dietary or access requirements in your response.

Janice St. John-Matthews MSc, PgC(TLHE), FHEA, MInstLM
Project Lead: Physician Associate Studies Programme
CPD Lead: Allied Health Professions
Senior Lecturer: Diagnostic Imaging

Room 1K03, DAHP,
Faculty of Health & Applied Sciences
University of the West of England
Glenside Campus
Bristol BS16 1DD
Tel +44(0)117 3288843

JIC is a subcommittee of the RCGP International Programme Board (IPB), formed in 2009. It has 16 volunteer AiT and First5 doctors as its core committee and a network of interested doctors who are kept in touch via social media and meetings. The aim of the JIC is to facilitate international educational opportunities, foster international partnerships and promote a global approach to primary care.
The JIC is also the UK branch of the Vasco da Gama Movement (VdGM). This is the WONCA Europe working group for new and future general practitioners. All UK based AiT and First5 GPs are automatically members of the VdGM and can access their activities.
There are many opportunities for young GPs to be involved with global health both in the UK and farther afield. Whether volunteering abroad or taking an 'Out of Programme Experience' (OOPE), coordinating international primary care research or completing a Hippokrates exchange with a practice abroad, the JIC is here to facilitate opportunity in the international community of family medicine.

The JIC core committee is made up of five working groups:

EXCHANGE
The exchange group co-ordinates observational clinical placements for outgoing UK junior doctors and incoming junior doctors from around the world. We arrange European two week Hippokrates and fully funded Erasmus exchanges, FM360 exchanges (beyond Europe exchanges) and global conference exchanges. This year a reciprocal ongoing exchange with Japanese junior doctors was organised for the third year running. The UK is the most popular place in Europe to undertake exchange and we have a huge network of regional co-ordinators and GP hosts who help to facilitate this programme.
exchangejic@gmail.com, leonardoexchange@gmail.com

RESEARCH
The Research group facilitates pan European research via the European research forum, helps to co-ordinate the VdGM junior researcher award and presents relevant international publications and research at domestic and international conferences. They are currently working on developing an audit and research toolkit for junior doctors undertaking out of programme experiences.
researchgroupjic@gmail.com

BEYOND EUROPE
The Beyond Europe group helps to develop new partnerships and sustain existing collaborations with our networks beyond Europe to support clinical, teaching and quality improvement work including Uganda and Japan. This group is also piloting a ‘twinning’ project which links a practice in the UK to a primary care hub in a lower/middle income country (London and Ghana) to develop long term information, knowledge and exchange collaboration.
beyondeuropejic@gmail.com

EDUCATION AND TRAINING
The Education and Training group aims to improve the recognition of time spent abroad as a valuable training experience and opportunity for reciprocal learning. They have been instrumental in creating the first ST4 global health post in the UK, implementing global health competencies in the UK curriculum and working towards institutional approval of study leave for exchanges.
educationandtrainingjic@gmail.com

IMAGE
The Image group co-ordinates the efforts of the JIC and promotes our work and affiliated opportunities. They lead JIC's contribution to the RCGP Annual Conference, the RCGP Global Health Conference and international Wonca conferences as well as maintaining the JIC website and communicating with our national and international networks through social media.
imagegroupjic@gmail.com

Contact:

We are a passionate group believing strongly in the importance of primary care, the ethics of global health and power of voluntary collective action. If you would like to get involved, or wish to find out more, do get in touch.

Website: http://www.rcgp.org.uk/rcgp-near-you/rcgp-international/junior-international-committee.aspx
Email: chairjic@rcgp.org.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/283366895074748/?bookmark_t=group
Twitter: jic@rcgpjic
Googlegroup: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/junior-rcgp-international-committee

Health Education England (HEE) is responsible for planning and supporting the development of the future workforce. We would like you to help us illustrate general practice - who works in the team, the patients that visit your surgery and the role in the community.

We are running a photo challenge open to anyone who works in primary care. We would like to create a book of photographs – an otherwise unseen snapshot of life in 2016 about your working life, capturing the realities, rewards and emotions of a typical day.

Please get involved with the challenge and for more information please visit the website. 

We are a team of general practice and public health doctors who are conducting a study on perceptions around waterpipe tobacco smoking amongst general practitioners and general practice trainees in the United Kingdom (UK). Waterpipe tobacco smoking is also known as: shisha, hookah, narghile and hubble-bubble. This work is an initial scoping survey where in the future we would like to further expand on the topic with clinician interviews.

We would be very grateful if you would spare a few minutes to complete this short and anonymous questionnaire.

The questionnaire link can be viewed by clicking here

Thank you for your time

Improving Cancer Outcomes using Significant Event Analysis & QI: Free Train-the-Trainer Learning Event.

GP Trainers are invited to this RCGP Macmillan Cancer Support event in Gloucestershire on 28th January 6.30-9.30pm, held in Gloucestershire CCG offices.

The free event will train appraisers, trainers and cancer leads in the effective use of Cancer SEAs to improve cancer outcomes (focusing on early diagnosis).

The focus will be on improving outcomes for Patients through: 

• Free essential training and support on SEAs and Quality Improvement and to support your work locally. 
• New Insight into Local Early Diagnosis barriers
• Targeted Training and Quality Improvements. 

Each participant will receive a certificate for attending this RCGP event. 

For more information please contact  or visit the website 

For the attention of all ESs and CSc 

More than two decades ago, Paul Newman had a vision: imagine if children living with serious illnesses had the chance to simply be children. To just have fun. So he started a camp where kids could, in his words, “raise a little hell.” Today, Paul’s legacy lives on in SeriousFun Children’s Network.

Over The Wall is part of this network; a UK charity who provides residential camps for children with serious illnesses, and their siblings in Scotland, the Midlands and Dorset. We give children one glorious week of experiences that are memorable, exciting, fun and empowering, in a safe environment.

To do this, we rely on doctors (ST2 and above in Paediatrics, GP or A&E with paediatric experience) like you to give up a week of your time, skills and experience and join our 'Beach Patrol' (medical team). In return, we can give you a week of fun, friendship and achievement, memories that will stay with you forever and people who will inspire you.

Visit our website to find out more and apply

The RCGP wishes to appoint a GP to the post of Executive Editor of InnovAiT, the RCGP's monthly journal for GPs in training. The Editor will lead the journal, undertake editorial responsibility for the content of each issue, manage the editorial development and critical success of the publication, oversee the work of the editorial board and ensure that the editorial integrity of the publication is maintained and consistent with College standards.

The ideal candidate will have clinical experience as a GP, previous editing and writing experience, be knowledgeable of developments in GP training, general practice and medical education for primary care, and have the capacity to lead a journal and work with different stakeholders.

This role will likely take up 2–3 days per week and will be remunerated accordingly. Candidates who are able to commit to this amount of time are encouraged to apply. Expressions of interest and applications (covering letter and CV) should be sent to: helen.farrelly@rcgp.org.uk by the closing date.

Background to project:

There are numerous reports of a crisis in general practice but there’s no national data to explain what’s actually going on: How many more consultations are being done each week? Have the patients got more complicated?

The truth is, there's really no way of knowing at the moment. Despite the seemingly vast amounts of data that individual GP practices collect, there hasn’t been a systematic national data collection that can tell us about the number of consultations, who undertakes them or the nature of those consultations since 2008.

At The King’s Fund we’re running a project that will collect up-to-date and detailed evidence about the changes in activity in general practice in the past five years. We’re doing a combination of quantitative and qualitative research, including large-scale data analysis, fieldwork in four practices around the country and surveys.

We’re particularly keen to hear the views of GP trainees. Not only are you the next generation of GPs, but your experience of working across a number of practices will give you lots of insight into the issues we’re looking at.

For more information please contact the lead researcher Beccy Baird, Fellow in Health Policy, The King’s Fund or visit the Related blog 

 GPs we need YOUR help! 

GP's we would appreciate if you could complete the survey by clicking here. 

Thanks all,

Researchers on behalf of The Kings Fund 

The National Medical Director’s Clinical Fellow Scheme provides doctors in training with the opportunity to spend one year working with senior leaders in national healthcare organisations including NHS England, Health Education England, Care Quality Commission and BUPA. The aim of the scheme is to help develop their skills in leadership, management, strategy, project management and health policy.

Please see below of someones experience: 

"I am a GP ST3 seconded from the end of my training and am three months into this valuable year. The way things are going in our NHS I really believe that GPs - of all the specialties - need all the exposure to leadership and management experience they can get. No matter what you end up doing after the year, you will take a huge amount from this immersive experience, and meet some extraordinary people. The scheme provides doctors in training with the unique opportunity to spend one year working with the most senior executives in leading national healthcare-affiliated organisations to develop their skills in:

- Leadership
- Management
- Strategy
- Project Management
- Health Policy

Fellows are immersed at the centre of organisations such as NHS England, Health Education England, CQC, Bupa and medical royal colleges. I am seconded to the CQC which has been fascinating, as you can imagine! I am doing collaborative work on a national scale such
as with The King's Fund and NICE, in addition to writing for journals,and doing interesting internal work. Posts are based in London and the North of England. The scheme is sponsored by Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS England's National Medical Director and managed by the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management (FMLM)."

Applications are open until 5pm on Wednesday 20th January 2016.

For more information please click here 

CALLING ALL GP TRAINEES: SAVE THE DATE!

Details: 

• 16th March 2016
• Venue: London, TBC
• A 1 day course designed especially for trainees and delivered by NB Medical Hot Topics. In addition to clinical Hot Topics for GPs the course will include Keep it Simple guidance on statistics, examination techniques and other topics relevant to GP Training.

Full details to follow.

For more information please contact 

Professor Steve Peters will be talking about the work his organisation in West Cheshire are doing.

The event is free to NHS colleagues as we want to share the outcomes as part of our work as an NHS England Vanguard area.

They're targeting senior leaders, HR Directors and those involved in education and training.

The event will include an introductory talk from Professor Peters, workshops from his team of specialist mentors and a presentation from NHS West Cheshire on our results so far.

Aim is to help clinicians and managers to build morale and confidence, become more resilient and achieve better psychological well-being. Unless we focus on the well-being of our staff I don’t believe our vision of creating a better NHS is deliverable.

Details of the event:

Daresbury Park Hotel

Daresbury Park,

Warrington

WA44BB

Date: Friday 22nd January 2016

Time: 9:30-1pm

Cost: Free 

For more information and to book tickets please click here. 

Recruiting enthusiastic GPs

We are seeking to recruit enthusiastic GPs and senior GPSTs to be “GP Careers Champions” within the South West Deanery.

The scheme is part of a national drive to boost GP recruitment and showcase what a fantastic career General Practice is.

Champions will:
• Be matched to a medical student or junior doctor who has expressed an interest in General Practice as a career and who would like to know more.
• Offer mentorship in a method convenient to both parties – this could be in the form of a taster day, or discussion via email, phone, skype or face-to-face.

Time commitment to the scheme can be flexible and be easily manageable around other work commitments.

As a Champion you will receive a certificate from the deanery acknowledging your participation and role in the scheme. The scheme fulfils the GMC good medical practice guidance on mentoring and provides an opportunity to take on an educational role.

If you are enthusiastic about your career, friendly, approachable and would like to get involved please complete the survey to register your interest.

If you would like further information or a copy of our FAQs, please contact  or click here.

The National Medical Director’s Clinical Fellow Scheme provides doctors in training with the opportunity to spend one year working with senior leaders in national healthcare organisations including NHS England, Health Education England, Care Quality Commission and BUPA. The aim of the scheme is to help develop their skills in leadership, management, strategy, project management and health policy. The scheme is sponsored by Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, and managed by the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management (FMLM). The deadline for applications is Wednesday 20 January 2016.

The Clinical Innovation and Research Centre at RCGP has recently launched the Bright Ideas Portal, where we can highlight examples of innovative work that is going on in GP practices. We want this work to be recognised, celebrated and shared, in the hope that GPs will both be inspired to take up practices which have been successful elsewhere and encouraged to come up with their own innovations.

Each month three Bright Ideas will be highlighted on our web page and also promoted in our Clinical News bulletin, which goes out monthly to RCGP members. In addition to this a Bright Idea will feature in our new member magazine, GP Frontline, to promote the innovation to our members and to hopefully inspire more GPs out there. The Bright Idea which was featured in the most recent edition of GP Frontline, Shared medical appointments, has already led to reports of increasing interest both from RCGP members and 13 CCGs.

We are asking that GPs or other members of the practice team send us a short piece of writing (up to 1000 words) setting out the practice’s experiences in adopting your Bright Idea and the benefits and learning that were the result. Images and links to webpages and journal articles which provide more background information are also encouraged. We also ask that you promote this as much as possible to your networks in order to raise awareness of the innovations on the page.

If you have any examples of innovations or queries regarding the programme then please email.

Do you know someone who might be interested?

GMC currently recruiting PLAB Part 1 and Part 2 panel members.
The PLAB test, which is in two parts, is the main route by which international medical graduates demonstrate they have the necessary skills and knowledge to practise medicine in the UK. There is a panel responsible for each part.

If you are interested, or know of someone who may be interested in becoming a PLAB Part 1 or Part 2 panel member, please click here for a full job specification and online application form.
GMC are looking for members in the following specialties for the Part 1 Panel.

• Emergency Medicine
• Obstetrics & Gynaecology
• Geriatric Medicine
• We are looking for members in the following specialties for the Part 2 Panel.
• General Practice
• Surgery
• General Internal Medicine
• Emergency Medicine
• Paediatrics

Completed applications will need to be submitted by 14 December 2015. Interviews will be held on 4, 11, 12 and 18 February 2016.

For the attention of all ECs and CSc 

Two ES and CS conferences have been organised to take place during 2016.

The conferences will both be held at Eastwood Park Conference Centre.
Address: Falfield, Wotton Under Edge GL12 8DA

Should you wish to attend, please click on the links below to register your attendance.

Spring 2016 Conference – 9th March 2016
Autumn 2016 Conference – 2nd November 2016

The Medical Schools Council, the General Medical Council and other key interest groups are piloting a UK Medical Education Database (UKMED) which, for the first time, brings together undergraduate and postgraduate medical education data. It provides a platform for collating data on the performance of UK medical students and trainee doctors across their education and future career. These data have not been linked before and no single organisation can currently link all data on their own.

The project allows researchers to submit proposals and, subject to meeting acceptance criteria, gain access to specific data for analysis. By linking data such as assessment results, UKMED aims to highlight the paths of doctors through school, university and their career. This creates a unique environment in which new research can be undertaken in a broad range of areas to inform the development of medical education and assessment, and the future medical workforce with the ultimate aim of improving patient care. The scope of the research that can be undertaken through UKMED is potentially broad ranging from analyses of selection tests in predicting future performance, to studying how socioeconomic background might affect an applicant’s progression through their career.

Applications for access to UKMED data for research purposes are welcome, with the deadline for submission on 11 January 2016 12:00 noon GMT. The project is a pilot which will be evaluated in mid-2016.

Please share this message within your organisation and research networks. For more information, please visit the UKMED website

Kind regards

The UKMED Team

The National GP Recruitment Office needs a case writer to develop questions for the Situational Judgment Test and the Clinical Problem Solving aspects of the GP recruitment process.

John Scanlon the current Severn case writer is stepping down. He writes:

'I joined this group when Bill Irish sent an ad looking for writers.

The commitment is 3 days a year ( 2+1) for meetings in a nice hotel and the time spent writing. The days pay £400 each + travel (additional supplement for the 2 day residential). There is a kitty of £2000 to pay for the individual time spent writing, again £400 a day which is reasonable.The group are really a great bunch.

The cases are written to a specific formula for the NRO and include SJTs and CPS items.

Helen Rochester is rep for Devon/Cornwall and I did discuss this with Phil Grimmer because I think it is too nice a niche to leave unfilled.'

I would be happy to speak/email anyone interested’

Please contact the GP School if you are interested.

At Health Education England (HEE), we are seeking to recruit qualified GPs to become our GP ambassadors who can help support our exciting new marketing campaign ‘There’s nothing general about general practice’.

Our campaign will promote the benefit of choosing to train in general practice as a specialty and is designed to increase the number of doctors applying to GP specialty training programmes and being part of the changing and modern primary care workforce.The campaign run by our communications agency Grayling, is due launch in September 2015. It will be aimed at encouraging current foundation programme doctors to think more seriously about the role of general practitioner as a key player in the modern primary care team and to consider selecting general practice as their specialty and future career.

What is an Ambassador?

We would like our ambassadors to be enthusiastic, hands-on individuals who have completed their GP specialty training. We would like you to be the voice and face of the campaign. Key attributes include how you:

• Find working in general practice a challenging, rewarding and fulfilling profession
• Are a confident spokesperson who is comfortable speaking to national or regional journalists (training wil be given!)
• Are an active user of social media, including Twitter and Facebook

As an ambassador for our national campaign you would be expected to:

• Provide time to speak to an individual or group
• Help us promote the campaign through your peers, colleagues and friends by word of mouth and social media
• Write short articles and blogs highlighting what you enjoy and gives you a buzz about general practice
• Particiapte in media activity including short interviews

What we need from you is energy and passion to tell other people what it’s like.  Even if you’ve never done anything like this before we’d really like to hear from you.

What you get from us is a chance to tell your story.  Our expert team will provide you with training and support throughout the campaign until applications close in November 2015.

Contact us now

If you think you’re up to the challenge, would enjoy the experience and want to register your interest, please get in touch by emailing the team at HEE@Grayling.com

We’re always happy to hear your thoughts and ideas and answer your questions about the campaign or role. 

Attention all GPs, but especially AiTs, First5 GPs, Foundation Trainees and Medical Students!!

Severn Faculty RCGP are pleased to announce that, in collaboration with Severn Postgraduate Medical Education, we are able to fund several bursaries to attend the RCGP annual conference 

RCGP Annual Primary Care Conference, SECC, Glasgow, 1-3 October 2015

RCGP Annual Primary Care Conference is the must attend event of the year for GPs and practice team colleagues, showcasing the latest clinical and policy developments across the UK and brings together an impressive range of national and international speakers.

This year’s theme is 'Expanding horizons of care' and the programme is packed with seminars and workshops relevant to all GPs, several of which are specifically for AiTs and First5 GPs, and will be extremely informative to Foundation Trainees and Medical Students. The conference is also an invaluable opportunity to meet GPs from across the UK, and good fun!

Conference details will be made available in January 2015

Register for the conference as early as possible to secure your place at the discounted earlybird rates 

Bursary recipients will be prioritised to those submitting a poster or presentation, and the quality of the written submission. Applications should be received beforemidnight on Saturday, 28 February 2015. The bursary will support Conference fees, travel and accommodation (but not incidental expenses) up to a maximum of £500 per individual. One additional bursary is open to post-First5 GPs who have never previously attended the RCGP Annual Conference.

There will be an expectation that successful applicants will feed back their experiences to the Severn Faculty Board and to Severn Postgraduate Medical Education by way of a brief report and give a short talk at the Severn Faculty AGM which will be held at Deanery House, Hambrook, Bristol on in Oct/Nov 2015 (date to be confirmed).

The Faculty will notify applicants if their application was successful by 31 March 2015.

Applications should include a written submission entitled “How can the profession ensure careers in General Practice are sustainable and attractive to new applicants, and how can the Severn Faculty RCGP help?” (max 500 word summary), what grade of
doctor/student/trainee you are (please include a brief CV- no longer than 1 page) and whether you intend to submit a poster or presentation at conference.  Written submissions will be judged on fluency, realism, practicality, innovation and conceptual thinking.

Please submit your application (or any queries) via email 

The College is looking to recruit two or three Lay Advisers for the Membership of the RCGP (MRCGP) Examination. 

These appointments will be for three years in the first instance (subject to annual review), with the possibility of renewal at the end of the contract. Lay Advisers will commit to being available for 12 days p.a. plus one day’s attendance at the annual examiners’ training conference, which in 2014 takes place on 18 and 19 September. 

Lay Advisers will receive a payment for services at £200.50 per day, £100.25 per half day  (subject to regular review) and travel/subsistence costs in compliance with RCGP policy. 

Role purpose  

The MRCGP is the licensing examination for independent practice as a GP in the UK. The licensing standard has a direct impact on the quality of care delivered to patients and their carers by GPs. The delivery and development of the MRCGP is therefore a matter of public interest and is a principal function of the RCGP. 

The MRCGP Lay Advisers will bring a patient’s and carer’s perspective to the development and delivery of the MRCGP. They will offer strategic advice from a non-institutional perspective, contribute to creative debates and enhance governance of MRCGP committees and working groups by scrutinising decisions/policy from an external lay perspective, acting as a ‘critical friend’ and challenging committees/working groups where necessary. 

Lay advisers will contribute to the MRCGP quality assurance and standard setting processes. They will participate in complaints and appeal processes and may be asked to mentor new lay advisers. 

Application process 

If you are interested in the above vacancies, please apply by email to Birgitta Bowman. Applicants should submit a CV and covering letter explaining their interest in and suitability for the role and providing evidence of their skills and experience in relation to the responsibilities outlined in the role description. 

Closing date: 20 August 2014                       Interview date: 12 September 2014

Roles to commence: 18 September 2014

MRCGP Lay Adviser 

Accountable to:                    Chief Examiner

Reports operationally to:     Head of Examinations

Tenure:                                  Three year fixed term (subject to annual review) – renewable at end of term annually up to a maximum three further years

Commitment:                        Availability for a minimum of 12 days p.a. plus 2 days attendance at the examiners conference

Remuneration:                      £200.50 per day,  £100.25 per half-day (subject to regular review) and travel/subsistence costs in compliance with RCGP policy 

Role summary: 

The MRCGP is the licensing examination for independent practice as a GP in the UK. The licensing standard has a direct impact on the quality of care delivered to patients and their carers by GPs. The delivery and development of the MRCGP is therefore a matter of public interest and is a principal function of the RCGP. 

Lay advisers will bring a patient’s and carer’s perspective to the development and delivery of the MRCGP. They will offer strategic advice from a non-institutional perspective, contribute to creative debates and enhance governance of MRCGP committees and working groups by scrutinising decisions/policy from an external lay perspective, acting as a ‘critical friend’  and challenging committees/working groups where necessary.  

Lay advisers will contribute to the MRCGP quality assurance and standard setting processes.  They will participate in complaints and appeal processes and may also be asked to mentor new lay advisers. The inclusion of a lay adviser on MRCGP committees and working groups will also demonstrate the importance of patient safety to the RCGP. 

Lay advisers may be assigned to a range of activities including: 

• Attending Assessment Development Committee (3 p.a., 0.5 days) or Adjudication Committees (4 p.a. in person, 4 p.a. virtually, lasting only about 1-1.5 hours)
• Attending the CSA core group (4 days p.a.) or WBPA core group (3 days p.a.)
• Quality assurance activities (variable)
• Selection and training of new examiners or role players (2 days p.a.)
• Case management activities such as the development of new cases (4 days p.a.)
• Participation in MRCGP complaints and appeals (approx. 2 days p.a.)
• MRCGP development activities (approx. 2 days pa)

Lay advisers will be required to: 

• Successfully complete initial training,  which will include Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) and equality and diversity training, and ensure that they perform their duties in a manner that supports the RCGP’s PSED responsibilities.
• Adhere to RCGP’s requirements for information governance and ensure that attention is given to appropriate security for all paper and/or electronic confidential information that is stored
• Adhere to strict confidentiality with regard to all sensitive and/or personal information that is acquired in the course of their MRCGP activities
• Complete tasks including submission of reports and claims in a timely manner
• Attend an annual performance review meeting
• Represent the RCGP in a professional manner at all times according to the RCGP Code of Conduct
• Declare any potential conflict of interest. Lay advisers must not accept any conflicting roles such as representation of specific groups of patients
• Ensure that any personal agenda does not interfere with the MRCGP lay role  

Other information: 

Lay advisers will be required to attend activities across various locations in the UK.  Most activities will be scheduled on weekdays but some will take place at weekends; There may be early starts/late finishes outside normal office hours. Lay advisers are expected to accommodate these conditions as far as possible, giving advance notice to the RCGP where circumstances will not allow attendance or early starts/late finishes. 

This role description is not exhaustive and is intended to be a guide to the principal duties and responsibilities of a lay adviser.  It may be amended at any time to meet the changing needs of the organisation and to reflect the developing skills of the individual. 

Essential attributes: 

Knowledge

• General knowledge of the NHS services in relation to primary and integrated care and issues from a patient/carer perspective (not as a healthcare professional)
• Awareness of Data Protection requirements when handling confidential or sensitive data (guidance will be provided once recruited)
• Awareness of equal opportunities legislation (guidance and training will be provided once recruited) 

Skills and experience

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Practical general IT skills
• Ability to use appropriate initiative and judgement to resolve problems and issues and see them through to conclusion
• Effective negotiating and influencing skills
• Ability to use tact and diplomacy
• Skilled and experienced at interviewing and giving feedback
• Skilled and experienced at evaluating decisions
• Good listening skills
• Ability to rapidly assimilate information related to specific issues
• Ability to make robust and defensible decisions
• Ability to objectively identify problems
• Ability to argue a coherent position and arrive at shared judgements on contentious issues
• Ability to respond appropriately to feedback on performance 

Personal qualities

• Ability to engage confidently with people at all levels
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team
• Conscientious, responsible and discreet
• Flexible and co-operative approach to work and working with colleagues
• Can remain positive when working to tight deadlines
• Able to attend regional and national meetings as required when available
• Adaptable/flexible outlook – able to handle people of all capabilities and attitudes
• Ability to deal with people in a courteous, professional and helpful manner 

Desirable attributes: 

• Knowledge of the principles of adult education
• Knowledge of assessment principles

It’s an exciting time to be involved in the RCGP’s CPD programme. We are already meeting the ongoing learning needs of thousands of Members each month. We are now looking to increase engagement with our Members even further, expand and enhance our provision, and find new customers beyond our Membership.

We need a clinician to steer us to our next stage of success. 

The role holder will be the College’s main clinical lead who will take responsibility for developing and driving forward College CPD strategy and profile, and developing service and products. 

You will be collaborating with other College medical directors and clinical leads, and an ambitious management team.  

The role is offered two sessions per week, 46 weeks per annum, on a three-year fixed-term appointment (subject to annual review) on a contract for services basis, with the possibility of renewal at the end of the three-year contract. 

Payment for services will be at the RCGP daily backfill rate plus 5% (currently £206.30 per session, £412.60 per day). 

Application process

If you are interested in the above vacancy, please email dmilosevic@rcgp.org.uk  to request a role description or to arrange to discuss the role in advance of applying. 

Applicants should submit a CV and covering letter explaining their interest in and suitability for the role and providing evidence of their skills and experience in relation to the responsibilities outlined in the role description. 

Closing date: 22 August 2014. Interview dates: to be held on 17 September 2014.   

The role will commence immediately upon appointment. 

Medical Director for CPD 

Accountable to:     

Staff lead:  Assistant Director of Enterprises 

Term of office:  Three year fixed term (subject to annual review)

Overall purpose:  To be responsible for operational leadership of the ongoing development and delivery of the RCGP GP CPD programme within agreed timescales and resource constraints   

Remuneration:  RCGP daily rate plus 5% (currently £206.30 per session, £412.60 per day) - 2 sessions per week, 46 weeks per annum                                            

Principal Responsibilities: 

• Provide GP leadership for a coherent and realistic clinical CPD strategy 
• Assist in needs analysis and revision of the CPD strategy, based on membership feedback, information gathered from key stakeholders, and through liaison with other College leads for example e-learning, revalidation, CIRC, curriculum, AiT and First5 chairs, Officers. 
• Ensure that modern educational approaches to adult learning (interactive, workbased applications, evidence based, and reflective) are embedded in the RCGP’s CPD offer to members 
• Provide clinical oversight and governance to the delivery of that strategy – maintain links with key individuals (internal and external) and organisations, ensuring new developments and ideas are fed in to the College’s CPD work and that different strands of College work are aligned from a clinical perspective. 
• Work with RCGP employees to ensure RCGP CPD programme is of an appropriate standard, is delivered to timescale and is fit for purpose.
• Identify and develop applications for potential external funding opportunities for new and existing work once prioritised as above
• Advise on and contribute to communications about CPD and promote the College’s provision at every opportunity
• Oversee and collaborate with any other clinical leads working on RCGP CPD programmes.
• Work collaboratively with all key clinical leads, specifically the Medical Directors for Professional Development  and eLearning, and staff leads across the RCGP to ensure the effective delivery of the College’s CPD strategy.
• Identify new developments (national and international) that are relevant to the College CPD programme.
• Working with line managers and officers, liaise and collaborate when needed with the GMC, AoMRC, DH, GPC, COGPED, other Medical Royal Colleges and other interested organisations in relation to CPD matters.
• Ensure that College CPD activities are aligned to College strategy and contribute to College finances.
• To act as a mentor for RCGP Clinical Leads and Fellows (in conjunction with other Medical Directors). 

Essential attributes: 

• Demonstrable skills in leadership, strategic thinking, negotiating, problem solving, stakeholder engagement and communications
• Collaborative approach. Works with stakeholders and College employees to achieve success. 
• Good links with external bodies, including regulation bodies, GP educational bodies (deaneries, COGPED, UKCEA) other Colleges/professional bodies in UK (and ideally also internationally). 
• Excellent educational credentials – probably an appraiser, involved in shaping CPD policy. 
• Experience of writing/editing/reviewing and the delivery of educational content (online and face to face). 
• A comprehensive understanding of the primary care CPD environment – including familiarity with other providers and their products, how they are viewed by GPs.  
• Good understanding of educational technology. 
• Good understanding of the financial realities of delivering CPD. 
• Experience of writing successful funding applications for service development, clinical audit and research projects.
• Excellent links to government, public health, charity sector, commercial sponsors.
• Member or Fellow of the RCGP in good standing. (This includes international membership. It is possible for someone who is not eligible for RCGP membership but who is selected for this role to be awarded honorary membership. Currently in NHS clinical practice).
• A GP in current medical practice (or within two years of active practice).
• Experience of chairing committees and working groups.
• High level of IT literacy.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including experience of high profile public presentations.
• Flexible and innovative approach to working.
• Political sensitivity, tact and diplomacy. 

Desirable attributes:

• An appropriate post-graduate qualification in medical education.
• Previous experience of work on behalf of RCGP, including knowledge of College structure and governance processes.
• Published work in peer reviewed journals.

Dear colleagues 

Please find details of this vacancy closing on 1 September 2014.   

NHS England has decided to establish a nationwide network of Patient Safety Collaboratives led by Academic Health Science Networks and based on their geographical footprints.

The West of England Patient Safety Collaborative had its first Board meeting on 19 June, bringing together all our main providers of NHS services with the seven Clinical Commissioning Groups.

Over the past few months of engagement, Clinical Commissioning Groups and community service providers have emphasised the importance of developing and strengthening approaches to patient safety for primary and community services, as well as along patient pathways. Dr Martin Jones, Chair, Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group, and Paul Jennings, Chief Executive of Gloucestershire Care Services, have volunteered to be the sponsors for this workstream and we are now looking for two Clinical Leaders; one a GP and another a clinician from community services who can offer a day a week to lead the development of this workstream. The Academic Health Science Network will provide administrative, project management and communication support.

If you are interested in one of these roles, please contact Deborah Evans, Managing Director, West of England Academic Health Science Network, on 0117 900 3430, or Martin Jones, on 0117 9841518 for an informal discussion. A role description is attached and we hope to interview on 10 September 2014 for GP applicants. We will pay backfill for your current role.

If you would like to apply for this role, please send your CV with a short covering letter to Natasha Swinscoe, Director of Development, West of England Academic Health Science Network, telling us why you are interested and what you would bring to this role. The closing date for applications is midday on 1 September 2014.

SECONDMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Job Title: Clinical Leaders – Developing patient safety in primary care and community services

Time commitment: 1 day a week /2 sessions

Accountable to: Patient Safety Programme Director

Duration: 1 year initially, review and possible extension

Remuneration: We will pay backfill for your current role

Summary

We are looking for two senior clinicians, one a GP and another from a member organisation which provides community services in the West of England who can lead and help us to develop our primary care and community services patient safety work stream. This workstream is part of the new West of England Patient Safety Collaborative.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Review existing primary care / community services patient safety initiatives in the West of England and wider (working with Safer Care South West) and develop the most appropriate proposals for implementation.
• Work with colleagues at the interface between healthcare settings in existing patient safety work (i.e. with acute hospitals, mental health etc ) to maximise effectiveness and develop a patient safety perspective which is patient centred and along pathways
• Contribute to the Health Education South West sponsored project on developing team work, communications and leadership skills to support patient safety in primary care and community services during 2014/15
• Work with the other Directorates in the Academic Health Science Network to achieve synergies across patient safety, evidence into practice, enterprise and translation and informatics.
• Identify opportunities for partnership working with partner organisations which have a local presence (i.e. NHS England, Health Education South West).
• Be an ambassador for the Patient Safety Collaborative with clinical colleagues, raising awareness and encouraging involvement in patient safety work.
• Take part in national events and collaborations with other Academic Health Science Networks working on similar themes.

Deborah Evans, Managing Director, West of England Academic Health Science Network (WEAHSN), South Plaza, Marlborough Street, Bristol BS1 3NX

Tel: 0117 9003430 (Ext:3430), Email: Deborah Evans

Website: www.weahsn.net

Ideas Spotlight: https://westofenglandahsn.wazoku.com

University of Bristol -School of Social and Community Medicine

The School of Social & Community Medicine is looking for a GP to work for 8 hours a week as a teaching fellow or senior teaching fellow (depending upon experience). The post holder will be part of an enthusiastic and dedicated team of GP educationalists who co-ordinate the components of the undergraduate medical course (MB ChB) that are taught in primary care. The main role of the post holder will be to lead the teaching of primary care to first year medical students. The post holder will also be expected to assist with the teaching and examinations given to students in year 4

To apply please click here

Dear Colleague

We are looking for a bright, enthusiastic part-time GP who knows our course to join our team. You must have experience as a medical educator, excellent presentation skills, be working in the NHS as a GP and have a real passion for General Practice and teaching. 

If you are interested please email alaybourne@nbmedical.com for further information.

Kind regards 

Simon Curtis

Medical Director, NB Medical Education

NB Medical Education | Email: hottopics@nbmedical.com |Phone: 0191 5197294
The Quadrus Centre, Woodstock Way, Boldon Business Park, Boldon, Tyne & Wear, NE35 9PF

Applications for The National Medical Director's Clinical Fellow Scheme 2014-15 are now open.

The application process closes on 14 February 2014.

Full details about the scheme including an overview of the scheme, FAQs, eligibility and selection criteria and a timeline of the process are available in our information pack. Please download and read the information pack carefully before starting your application.  

Further information is available from our webinar 'what's it all about' which details the experiences of past and present fellows as well as answering questions from potential applicants.

You can also visit the FMLM website.

The RCGP’s curriculum team is recruiting up to six enthusiastic GP educators to help lead the development of the RCGP curriculum, as an important part of the national strategy to ensure the curriculum remains relevant to the needs of the next generation of generalist family doctors, their trainers and patients.  

The new ‘Managing Editors’ will lead the creation, editing and updating of the RCGP curriculum modules (currently known as statements), co-ordinating feedback and advice from our curriculum advisory network (e.g. Guardians, Champions and other experts). Strong writing and team-working skills will be essential for this role. Appointments are for one year in the first instance, although may be extended pending a successful review. The work will be reimbursed within an agreed budget (see the role description for further details). Relevant experience of GP education will be required, but experience of curriculum development is not essential – we would welcome applications from people with a wide range of backgrounds. 

The full advert and role description is available here:

http://www.rcgp.org.uk/work-at-rcgp/rcgp-vacancies/curriculum-development-managing-editors.aspx 

I would be very grateful if you would make your colleagues and networks aware of this opportunity. This is an exciting time for GP training and a chance for enthusiastic educators to make a real difference! 

Many thanks – and have a good Christmas and New Year break! 

Dr Ben Riley FRCGP

Medical Director of Curriculum

Royal College of General Practitioners

Email: ben.riley@rcgp.org.uk

Level: ST1

Vacancies: 154

Duration: 3 Years

Apply from: 12 November 2013

Closing date: 5 December 2013

Applications are invited for August 2014 GP Recruitment for Severn Postgraduate Medical Education and opens at 10.00am on Tuesday 12^th November 2013. Applications must be submitted by 17.00 on Thursday 5^th December 2013.

The GP National Recruitment Office (NRO) are co-ordinating this national recruitment process and applications will be via the NRO website

Please refer to the person specification to check that you meet the essential eligibility criteria prior to submitting an application. This can be found on the GP NRO website

Please note, the vacancy details are indicative and may change during the course of the recruitment process.

Please click here for further information.

Applications are invited from second-year general practice specialty trainees (in ST2 year) who wish to undertake clinical academic training.

Funding is now available to enable trainees to extend their training by a year, allowing part-time attachment to a university department during the ST3 and ST4 years. Further information can be found here.

With the great British summer we are having, what better way to get around than by bike? It is sustainable, healthy and economical. Dr Annie Elkins, our ST3 sustainability scholar in 2011/12 would agree. 

Did you know GP trainees employed by Gloucester Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (the host employer) can claim 10p per mile for cycling to undertake GP home visits and other work-related activity?   As with usual expenses, claims need to be:

• Fully itemised i.e. Including to and from details, total mileage, and dates of claim
• Made within 3 months of the activity
• For work-related activity only
• Signed off by an authorised approver 

Don’t have a bike?  You may be able to apply for one on the cycle to work scheme.  Gloucester Hospitals are members of the cycle to work scheme.  Now that GP trainees are employed by them you can sign up to get a bike! There is no waiting period to be able to apply; however you need to have a contract which has at least 12 months remaining to cover the contract term. 

All staff of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust who have a permanent contract of employment with the Trust, or a fixed term/temporary contract which is due to last at least 12 months from the date of joining the scheme are eligible.  In addition, staff must be earning enough to ensure that the salary sacrifice does not take their hourly rate of pay below the National Minimum Wage (it may be possible to avoid this happening by extending the ‘hire period’ from 12 months to 18 or 24 months).  The Trust will check all this when you apply to join the scheme. 

If you leave the employment of the Trust during the 12 month hire period, the outstanding repayment will not be through salary sacrifice, and you will not benefit from savings in tax, National Insurance etc. 

Sound like something you want to consider?  Contact Richard Giles for more information.

Dear Doctor, 

I am writing to invite you to a Standard Setting event scheduled to take place on Friday 21st June 2013 (10am-4pm), University College London, Archway Campus, 2nd Floor Holborn Union Building, 2-10 Highgate Hill, London N19 5LW. 

The day will be dedicated to setting a standard for the knowledge base which is equivalent to the AKT and appropriate for independent general practice. Training will be given on the day. 

Honorarium is £350 plus travel expenses covered and lunch provided. 

If you are interested in attending, please email me back with your GMC number and mobile number. 

As there are only 10 attendees needed for the day, these slots will be offered on a first come, first served basis - so please respond as soon as you are able. 

Please let me know if you would like to attend or have any further queries about the event. 

Kind Regards 

Lisa Doyle GMC Projects Events Administrator, GMC Development Unit, UCL Medical School, University College London, Archway Campus, 4th Floor Holborn Union Building, 2-10 Highgate Hill, London N19 5LW

There are 135 GP ST1 posts available in the School of Primary Care, Severn Deanery from August 2013. This includes 3 GP ACF posts in Bristol.

The person specification can be found on the GP NRO website.

Applications can be made on the GP NRO website. Applications open at 9.00am on Monday 12th November 2012 and close at NOON on Friday 7th December 2012.

Further information about GP training at the Severn Deanery is available here. There is also further information about the GP National Recruitment Process on the GP NRO website.

Clare Whittle | GP Recruitment and Selection Manager (maternity cover)

There are 3 academic posts available in the School of Primary Care, Severn Deanery from August 2013 (ST1 intake). One post is NIHR funded and the other two are locally funded.

The person specification for entry is common to all Deaneries in England.

Applications for these highly competitive posts are made by completing both the standard GP training application and the additional academic training form on the GP National Recruitment Office (NRO) website. Applicants must demonstrate suitability for a clinical GP training programme in order to be considered for an academic programme. Those making an unsuccessful application for academic training will still be considered for a standard GP specialty training programme.

Applications open at 9.00am on Monday 12^th November 2012 and close at NOON on Friday 7th December 2012.

Further information is available here and also on the Severn Deanery Clinical Academic Training website and on the GP NRO website.

 Clare Whittle | GP Recruitment and Selection Manager (maternity cover)