Integrated Clinical Academic Training

All doctors occupying a Specialty training post are required to undertake a yearly assessment of their progress (Annual Review of Competence Progression).

Each annual assessment is carried out by a small specialty-based panel as detailed in the Gold Guide.  It will provide an opportunity for the trainee to provide comments on their training to date, as well as reviewing their progress/competences and identifying specific training needs.

The annual review will confirm the progress of Specialty Trainee through the training programme, followed by a documented recommendation for the following year, ie:

• that the trainee is ready to progress to the next year of a structured training programme
• that all the competences have been achieved
• that targeted training or repeat training at the same level is required
• to provide a final statement of the trainee's completion of the training programme

Successful completion of the full training programme will lead to a recommendation from the Specialist Training Committee that a Certificate of Completion of Training be issued - the CCT.

Repeated failure to progress will lead to withdrawal from the training programme.

 The ARCP process is covered in more detail in the 6th Edition Gold Guide

The academic supervisor is a key figure in the successful development of clinical academic
trainees. It is important that, as part of the educational
process, these clinical trainees receive appropriate academic supervision, that
their progress is carefully monitored, and that they receive feedback in good
time to enable them to adjust their patterns of work as necessary.  The principle of joint
supervision by an academic supervisor (a clinical academic appointed by the
Medical School) in addition to the educational supervisor the Trusts appoint to
each training post is part of the agreement between Trusts, Universities and
Deanery in accepting NIHR funded Academic Clinical Fellows and Lecturer posts.

The guidance document below is to recommend a systematic framework to ensure that these aims are achieved and seets out the responsibilities to be carried out by the academic supervisor.

Guidance on the supervision and monitoring progress of clinical academic trainee 

Out of Programme (OOP) relates to trainees that wish to participate in an experience that is out of their planned programme of training.  There are a number of circumstances that trainees may wish to spend time out of programme; to gain training or clinical experience, to undertake research or to take a career break.

Time out of programme will not normally be agreed until a trainee has been in a training programme for at least a year and will not normally be allowed in the final year of training other than in exceptional circumstances.

Before applying for OOP, trainees must discuss their plans with their Educational Supervisor and/or Training Programme Director.  This discussion will determine the suitability of the out of programme experience and ensures the proposed post will meet the educational needs of the trainee.