Quarterly Review from Head of School 

Welcome to the Autumn Review and Update from the Severn School of O & G. It was lovely to see so many trainees at the SWOT AGM in Plymouth – thank you to Natalia Povolotskaya (StR in Peninsula) for all her hard work in organising the event. I look forward to reading the report of the meeting and the list of new committee members. 

Trainees News and Appointments 
Many congratulations to the 12 Severn Deanery trainees who have recently passed Part II MRCOG (Caryn Albury, Christy Burden, Cressida Bond, Jo Clarke, Jothi Doraiswamy, Matt Epee, Sherry Halawa, Lalrinawmi, Eli Medd, Kate O'Brien, Dimitrios Psaroudakis & Mohamad Shafiee - this is defintely a record number!).  I am especially proud as I believe this is 100% pass rate for local trainees in this exam.  

Also congratulations to the 3 trainees recently passing part 1 MRCOG – especially Sharan Athwal who started as an ST1 in August.

There are also congratulations to the trainees who have recently secured consultant posts:

Jo Baden Fuller       Substantive Consultant O&G in Salisbury

Lydia Karamura       Substantive Consultant O&G in Yeovil

Roshni Patel           Substantive Consultant Obstetrician in Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, London

Tamer Abdelrazik     Locum Consultant in O&G Swindon

Rachna Bahl            Locum Consultant in O&G St Michaels

Welcome to the 7 new additions to our School – I was delighted to hear of the safe arrival of 7 babies to our trainees since my last newsletter (another record!). We look forward to welcoming their mothers back to work next year.

We will be welcoming Dr Munawar Hussain to the School as the new Subspecialty Trainee in Reproductive Medicine in January.

We are currently advertising the subspecialty post in fetal maternal medicine at St Michaels with interviews on 20 January 2010

I am delighted to announce that our School have been allocated a new Clinical Lecturer post at ST6 level based at Southmead Hospital. This is an Integrated Academic Training post between the Severn Deanery and the University of Bristol and will be advertised in the New Year to start in August 2010.

Nine new ST1 trainees started in August and seemed to have settled well along with 8 international Medical Graduates on the International Doctors Training Programme (IDTP). We hope they enjoy their time with us.

Study Leave – Use it or Lose it!

As you are all aware the School took over responsibility for study leave in April 2009. Halfway through the financial year many trainees have spent their entire annual budget of £563 but are still able to take study leave time by self funding further courses. Unfortunately there are a number of trainees who have not yet accessed their study leave budget for the year ending April 2010. The study leave budget is funded by the South West Strategic Health Authority (SHA). As with all budgets underspends may be used to justify reductions in future budgets.   The School’s view is that you have a personal responsibility to make full use of the training opportunities that we are trying to provide for you and making good use of your study leave money is an important component of your training.

Please apply for study leave using the correct form (available on the website) and submit your application well in advance. Any residual study leave funds not applied for by 8 February 2010 (6 weeks before the end of the financial year) will be used to fund Deanery Courses.

I would like to draw your attention to the Professional and Generic Skills Programme open to all Severn Deanery Trainees at no cost.

SWOT and Logbook Days

These continue to be successful and well attended. The logbook day organised by David Cahill at St Michaels on Reproductive Medicine in October was so oversubscribed Mr Cahill has agreed to run a repeat course in January 2010 - this was again fully booked very quickly and there is now a waiting list. If there are other logbook courses which trainees need to attend please let Jon Ash (SWOT Day organiser) know so that further courses can be arranged.

The programme for 2010 is under development and will appear on the website as courses are arranged – please look out for new courses and remember to register early.

Trainee Feedback

Thank you to all the trainees who completed both the TEF prior to their ARCP/RITA and the on line end of placement survey organised by the Deanery. This feedback has all been analysed and fed back to the individual Trusts. It has also been used to compile the Annual report to both the Deanery and the RCOG where any areas of concern need to be addressed with an action plan. We look forward to improvements being made and the results monitored by next year’s feedback from you. Unfortunately not all changes can be introduced overnight but please be patient and continue to respond to requests for feedback so we can monitor if progress is being made.

Prizes and Awards

At the recent School Board meeting it was agreed to introduce a new system of awards and prizes in 2010 for trainees to encourage excellence and individuality. To be considered for an award all trainees must have a satisfactory ARCP outcome & fully engage in the ARCP process.  Trainees will be invited to apply for awards under the following categories

• ST1 – 2 Trainee of the year and ST3 – 6 - Trainee of the year.

           both these awards will be based on  achievements made over

           the last 12 months within  a current training post in the Severn

          Deanery

• The Severn School of O&G Gold Medal – will be awarded to a trainee in year 6 based on achievements throughout their 6 years of training.  

Trainees will be invited to apply on a single sheet of A4 similar to a personal statement & be shortlisted by a panel.  The awards will be made at an annual awards ceremony which will take place after the ARCPs, probably in the early Autumn.  All trainees will be invited to attend the ceremony which may involve a speaker & dinner.  Further details will be posted on the website in due course.

Ultrasound Training

This continues to be an issue for trainees. Hopefully the ultrasound simulators at St Michaels will be helpful to trainees. Please note all current trainees in ST4 and below cannot progress to ST6 unless they have completed the basic ultrasound modules. Please ensure you check if this applies to you. If you anticipate any problems please contact the Deanery Ultrasound Co-ordinators

Annual Expectations of Trainees

This document on the website (give link) aims to guide trainees on the minimum expectations in each year of training. There are two documents: one for ST1 & ST2 trainees and one for ST3-7 trainees.  This will be used at the ARCP and should help trainees and Educational Supervisors ensure they aim beyond the levels suggested. It is a dynamic document which will evolve as the RCOG curriculum develops.

ARCP dates

Please note the dates for 2010 ARCP are on the website – please put the relevant date in your diary now and avoid taking leave at this time.

If anyone has any comments or suggestions about the information provided on the website please contact Debbie Sirett

Best wishes

November 2009