Background to curriculum change

Training curricula for all specialties and subspecialties are being revised in line with the General Medical Council’s (GMC) Excellence by Design standards for postgraduate curricula, introduced in 2017. These standards aim to improve the flexibility of training and to produce curricula that will better support patient, professional and service need, as set out in the Shape of Training Report.

Shape of Training was an independent review led by Professor David Greenaway that looked at potential reforms to the structure of postgraduate medical training in the UK. The final report was published in October 2013. The report indicated a need for doctors capable of providing general care in broad specialties across a range of different settings, requiring postgraduate training to adapt so as to prepare medical graduates able to deliver safe and effective general care.

In response to these recommendations, the College has undertaken the revision of 8 specialty curricula: histopathology, forensic histopathology, paediatric and perinatal pathology, diagnostic neuropathology and chemical pathology, which are managed exclusively by RCPath, and medical microbiology, medical virology, infectious diseases and tropical medicine, which are managed jointly with Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board (JRCPTB) via the Combined Infection Training (CIT) model.

The JRCPTB are leading on the revision of specialty curricula for haematology and immunology, with oversight from the Joint Training Committee.

Launch events

In 2021, the College held online Curriculum Launch Events for the new specialty curricula, dividing these into 3 presentations: chemical pathology, infection (joint launch with JRCPTB, comprising medical microbiology, medical virology, infectious diseases and tropical medicine) and cellular pathology (comprising histopathology, forensic histopathology, diagnostic neuropathology and paediatriac and perinatal pathology). These events were aimed at training programme directors and educational supervisors and were designed to give a better understanding of the incoming curricular changes and how these would affect trainers on a practical level. 

The recorded presentations and Q&A session are available below:

Chemical Pathology Curriculum Launch Questions and Answers

Questions

If I am on the transitional curriculum and take time out of training for a PhD after ST3, will I return to the transitional curriculum?

  • Yes. The transitional curriculum will only be phased out once the last trainee completes training.
 

So the new curriculum has been approved by the GMC, does this mean that the project and critical appraisal Is now removed from FRCPath exams?

  • No. All curricula and examinations are approved separately by the GMC.
  • We are still working on that with the GMC, however for the time being you are still required to do the projects.
  • The current guidance on the website is correct and is for trainees to follow.

Is the 31st of July 2023 CCT date based on what was used on the previous curriculum? I.e. 5.5 years?

Will there be any resource training to familiarise trainees with the new LEPT system?

What is happening to Stage D requirements? When does your project need to be submitted by on the new curriculum?

If a trainee is not due their ARCP until December this year, will they stay on the current curriculum and using the current LEPT system until after the ARCP in the December?

I am a Chemical Pathology/Metabolic Medicine trainee, how many clinics do we need to attend across the domain to the new curriculum?

My CCT date is 1st August 2023 – is the 31st of July 2023 a hard and fast rule?

Will Chemical Pathology only trainees have clinic numbers defined as the same as Chemical Pathology/Metabolic Medicine?

If Chemical Pathology CCT is performed 31st July 2023, do I still need 12 months Stage D after passing the exam? Or can I pass the exam within a few months of CCT?

When will we know whether the project will continue/stop?

Can previous PHD’s be performed before commencing training?

 

 

Examinations

Training

I have a CP trainee who was supposed to have CCT in Dec 2021 but now delayed till at least September 2022 due to exam. So will she need to transfer to the transitional curriculum?

  • Assuming the trainee does not have MRCP they will need to transfer to the transitional curriculum. Trainees who are very close to the transition date will need to be assessed on a case by case basis.

Competency in the generic CiPs are difficult to evidence. Do you have any suggestions as to how best to deliver and these aspects of training?

  • It is recognised that generic CiPs are more difficult to evidence than specialty CiPs, and this is why entrustment levels are not applicable to generic CiPs. The appendix to the curriculum provides a list of recommended workplace-based assessments for each year of training, which should help the educational supervisor assess a trainee’s competence in these areas.

How will we then record our number of clinics which have already been done?

  • Trainees should aim to summarise the clinics that they have undertaken and transfer this summary to the new system.

 

 

 

Chemical Pathology Curriculum Launch Questions and Answers

Questions

If I am on the transitional curriculum and take time out of training for a PhD after ST3, will I return to the transitional curriculum?

  • Yes. The transitional curriculum will only be phased out once the last trainee completes training.
 

So the new curriculum has been approved by the GMC, does this mean that the project and critical appraisal Is now removed from FRCPath exams?

  • No. All curricula and examinations are approved separately by the GMC.
  • We are still working on that with the GMC, however for the time being you are still required to do the projects.
  • The current guidance on the website is correct and is for trainees to follow.

Is the 31st of July 2023 CCT date based on what was used on the previous curriculum? I.e. 5.5 years?

Will there be any resource training to familiarise trainees with the new LEPT system?

What is happening to Stage D requirements? When does your project need to be submitted by on the new curriculum?

If a trainee is not due their ARCP until December this year, will they stay on the current curriculum and using the current LEPT system until after the ARCP in the December?

I am a Chemical Pathology/Metabolic Medicine trainee, how many clinics do we need to attend across the domain to the new curriculum?

My CCT date is 1st August 2023 – is the 31st of July 2023 a hard and fast rule?

Will Chemical Pathology only trainees have clinic numbers defined as the same as Chemical Pathology/Metabolic Medicine?

If Chemical Pathology CCT is performed 31st July 2023, do I still need 12 months Stage D after passing the exam? Or can I pass the exam within a few months of CCT?

When will we know whether the project will continue/stop?

Can previous PHD’s be performed before commencing training?

 

 

Examinations

Training

I have a CP trainee who was supposed to have CCT in Dec 2021 but now delayed till at least September 2022 due to exam. So will she need to transfer to the transitional curriculum?

  • Assuming the trainee does not have MRCP they will need to transfer to the transitional curriculum. Trainees who are very close to the transition date will need to be assessed on a case by case basis.

Competency in the generic CiPs are difficult to evidence. Do you have any suggestions as to how best to deliver and these aspects of training?

  • It is recognised that generic CiPs are more difficult to evidence than specialty CiPs, and this is why entrustment levels are not applicable to generic CiPs. The appendix to the curriculum provides a list of recommended workplace-based assessments for each year of training, which should help the educational supervisor assess a trainee’s competence in these areas.

How will we then record our number of clinics which have already been done?

  • Trainees should aim to summarise the clinics that they have undertaken and transfer this summary to the new system.

 

 

 

Chemical Pathology Curriculum Launch Questions and Answers

Questions

If I am on the transitional curriculum and take time out of training for a PhD after ST3, will I return to the transitional curriculum?

  • Yes. The transitional curriculum will only be phased out once the last trainee completes training.
 

So the new curriculum has been approved by the GMC, does this mean that the project and critical appraisal Is now removed from FRCPath exams?

  • No. All curricula and examinations are approved separately by the GMC.
  • We are still working on that with the GMC, however for the time being you are still required to do the projects.
  • The current guidance on the website is correct and is for trainees to follow.

Is the 31st of July 2023 CCT date based on what was used on the previous curriculum? I.e. 5.5 years?

Will there be any resource training to familiarise trainees with the new LEPT system?

What is happening to Stage D requirements? When does your project need to be submitted by on the new curriculum?

If a trainee is not due their ARCP until December this year, will they stay on the current curriculum and using the current LEPT system until after the ARCP in the December?

I am a Chemical Pathology/Metabolic Medicine trainee, how many clinics do we need to attend across the domain to the new curriculum?

My CCT date is 1st August 2023 – is the 31st of July 2023 a hard and fast rule?

Will Chemical Pathology only trainees have clinic numbers defined as the same as Chemical Pathology/Metabolic Medicine?

If Chemical Pathology CCT is performed 31st July 2023, do I still need 12 months Stage D after passing the exam? Or can I pass the exam within a few months of CCT?

When will we know whether the project will continue/stop?

Can previous PHD’s be performed before commencing training?

 

 

Examinations

Training

I have a CP trainee who was supposed to have CCT in Dec 2021 but now delayed till at least September 2022 due to exam. So will she need to transfer to the transitional curriculum?

  • Assuming the trainee does not have MRCP they will need to transfer to the transitional curriculum. Trainees who are very close to the transition date will need to be assessed on a case by case basis.

Competency in the generic CiPs are difficult to evidence. Do you have any suggestions as to how best to deliver and these aspects of training?

  • It is recognised that generic CiPs are more difficult to evidence than specialty CiPs, and this is why entrustment levels are not applicable to generic CiPs. The appendix to the curriculum provides a list of recommended workplace-based assessments for each year of training, which should help the educational supervisor assess a trainee’s competence in these areas.

How will we then record our number of clinics which have already been done?

  • Trainees should aim to summarise the clinics that they have undertaken and transfer this summary to the new system.