What do we offer in Scotland?

 Introduction

The Scottish SFP provides a great opportunity to become more involved with medical research, education and management.  While the structure and content of the programme varies across the regions in Scotland there are opportunities to develop research, teaching and or leadership skills.  The opportunities in the different regions are laid out on the regional pages which you can access from the left-hand menu.  Undertaking a SFP is like any project: the more effort you put in, the more you achieve.  Importantly, during the academic components of the SFP there is much less of an emphasis on providing 'didactic teaching' to SFPs and much more focus on helping individuals to drive their own career forward, a key skill in clinical academia  Many foundation doctors who have previously complete the SFP have published work and or spoken at national and international conferences, whilst others have organised their own conferences to allow people to present and display work.  The benefits arising from a SFP should not be underestimated, having access to clinical academic mentors where possible protected time as part of the programme provide the ideal opportunity for a junior doctor to establish themselves as a medical educator, researcher, leader, manager or an expert in any other area.  The aim of the Specialised Foundation Programme is to prepare Foundation doctors to become future leaders in academic and clinical medicine. Every opportunity will be made available to enhance the academic profile of successful candidates.

Assessment and Portfolio

The purpose of the Foundation Programmes is to provide clinical training to ensure that foundation doctors develop and demonstrate a range of crucial clinical skills as well as interpersonal skills for managing both acute and long-term conditions no matter what specialty. Foundation doctors are assessed against the outcomes in the curriculum – which ensures competency in a number of areas including communication and consultation skills, patient safety and teamwork as well as the more traditional elements of medical training. All assessments will be recorded and kept in the Foundation doctor’s Portfolio (Turas). SFP doctors have to achieve the same outcomes as those on the Foundation Programme, but very often have less time than their colleagues. Keeping on top of assessments, attendance at teaching, clinical practice, engagement with the educational process (completion of work-based supervised learning events etc.) and evidencing it all in the Portfolio is essential. This is useful going forward, as all clinical academics need to balance research/teaching etc. with clinical work throughout their careers. The SFP F1 year is a generic clinical foundation year which allows newly qualified doctors to gain experience in a range of clinical posts and after successful ARCP move from Provisional to Full GMC registration. The F2 year focuses on the academic elements alongside additional clinical experience. All programmes and rotations advertised via Oriel are indicative and may be subject to change.

SFP Teaching

The Scottish Specialised Foundation Programme offers regular online teaching on a variety of topics. Topics are specifically chosen to be of benefit to Foundation doctors and are hosted by academics from across Scotland. All teaching is interactive, so questions and discussions are strongly encouraged. Previous sessions have included themes such as clinical epidemiology and big data and we welcome feedback from SFP trainees about what topics they would find useful.

Study Leave

Details on NES Study Leave policy can be found on the Scotland Deanery website.