Queries related to your Clinical Component

The best place to start is with the Foundation Programme Administrators, who are based in the Department of Medical Education in your NHS Trust. If they are unable to help you, they will be able to point you in the right direction of who to contact instead. 

Queries related to your Academic Component

You can either contact:

Professor Matt Bown
Director of Clinical Academic Training for the University of Leicester
m.bown@le.ac.uk

Professor Jonathan Barratt
Head of School for Clinical Academic Training
jonathan.barratt@uhl-tr.nhs.uk

To gain access to most journals, you will require logins. There are two login methods available to you, either via an NHS OpenAthens account and/or a University of Leicester IT account.

An NHS OpenAthens account is available to all NHS employees. It is free for you to use and has useful tools for literature searches, such as tracking your search history and eliminating duplicate records. Make a record of any articles that you are unable to get instant access to and send them to your hospital librarians who will be able to track down the copy for you. Go to NHS OpenAthens from a hospital-based computer and ensure you use a work email to sign up.

A University of Leicester IT account will be available from commencement of SFP 1 provided you have completed and returned the University of Leicester Honorary Title form and signed letter of acceptance. For further information on this process please contact catenquiries@le.ac.uk.

Each hospital has a library with skilled and knowledgeable librarians. They can gain access to articles and journals for you that you may not be able to access, including applying to the British Library for articles that prove particularly difficult to track down. They can help you perform literature searches and can offer training in research and writing skills.

LNR Hospital Library services

• Healthcare library and knowledge services
• UHL NHS Trust Libraries and Information services
• Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust Libraries and Information services
• Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Libraries
  
• Kettering General Hospital Library
• Health Libraries in Lincolnshire Online

TAB rounds can be difficult as an academic trainee as they require a spread of raters from across a clinical team. If you are on your academic placement, you may not have a clinical team who you can easily ask.

Traditionally, the advice has been that as long as you can show a good variety of raters and get 10 of them, if you are on an academic placement you do not need to hit all of the categories of raters. You may find, however, that you work in such a small team that 10 is still a challenge. Consider asking colleagues from your previous placement to do a TAB for you. If you are unable to complete a TAB, you will have to do another one during your third second year placement, which may affect your ARCP. As such, try your best to complete a TAB, but do not worry if you are unable to. If you have any questions about this please discuss with your educational supervisor.

Academic Trainees spend only two thirds of their time on clinical placements but have to complete the same number of assessments as “normal” trainees. If you have a four-month academic placement (rather than a day out each week), this can take a huge chunk out of the time available to you to complete your competencies, or leave you without the opportunity to “catch up” in the last placement.

The key to success is in planning your academic time. Use it for the more time-consuming competencies, such as completing your audit, doing your ALS and your SIM day, thus freeing up time during your clinical placements to complete your SLEs.

Browse our list of academics willing to supervise Foundation doctors.

Please contact potential supervisors in your aFY1 year to agree a project ahead of commencing aFY2. Once you have agreed your supervisor and project please confirm this to catenquiries@le.ac.uk.

This could be your research supervisor or the Director of Clinical Academic Training Professor Matt Bown or Head of the Academic Postgraduate School Professor Jonathan Barratt. All are willing to help.

Learn more about the training path for academic medicine from National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

Applications for the academic training open in the autumn, before most trainees have had their academic placement, which can be worrying if this is the career path you want. There are a few things that you can do.

If you know that this is what you want to apply for, it is possible to do swaps during FY1. Each set of jobs is completed by three trainees in rotation. Find out who your counterparts are and ask them if they would be willing to swap the order of their jobs. If this does not work, ask the other academic trainees if anyone would mind swapping when they do their academic job (although bear in mind that you will need to swap “like for like” – it would not be possible to swap with a leadership and management if you are a project trainee, for example).

If this does not work, do not despair, just ensure that you have a project proposal planned and written. Keep a copy of it in your interview Portfolio and be prepared to speak about it at your interviews.

If you are not sure about an ACF and want to “try before you apply”, consider using some of your taster days (10 are available across FY1 and FY2) to shadow some Academic Medics.

Visit the HEE website, chat to current ACFs and Clinical Lecturers or contact Professor Matt Bown or Professor Jonathan Barratt.