© 2008 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Correspondence |
Making the most out of the Gold Guide
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, Psychiatric Unit, Derby City General Hospital, Derby DE22 3NE, email: mcxkt2{at}nottingham.ac.uk
While some of the trainees have not yet completely recovered from the stormy entry into the run-through system, others are about to face their annual review of competence progression. The Postgraduate Medical Education Training Board has set out clearly the operation of the competence-based specialty training in the UK. Its offshoot product, the ‘Gold Guide’ (Modernising Medical Careers, 2007), seems to be the Bible to follow in the new era of training. However, several months into the system this ‘golden guidance’ has yet to become popular among trainees. Of particular interest is the section which explains three integrated components of the process, the ‘three As’ - appraisal, assessment and annual planning.
The appraisal should be a continuous process happening at regular intervals. In my opinion, it is the crucial part of the review. The importance of educational supervision was also highlighted by Day & Brown (2000) and Sembhi & Livingstone (2000). The assessment seeks clear evidence and proof of achievement in both performance (workplace-based assessments) and experience (log book, audit and research). Based on this, the trainees’ future needs can be identified (annual planning).
The annual review of competence progression appears a well-considered plan. However, there are some inherent difficulties in its implementation, particularly in psychiatry. For the specialty trainee year 4, identifying educational supervisor other than a clinical one has been an issue. Research sessions and special interest sessions have not been considered in the review, probably because traditionally they have not been part of other specialties’ training curriculum. Therefore, for example, getting a report from research supervisor for the review is not feasible. Some centres have only 4-month training posts for specialty trainees years 1-3, too short for any effective appraisal process. The most burdensome aspect at the moment seems to be nominating people and getting feedback from the multidisciplinary team through the online system. Trainees can easily find themselves frantically running around to get the forms filled.
Notwithstanding, this system is a better way of testing and developing competence progression. It has given us the opportunity to be reflective in our learning experience and it has managed to merge clinical and educational supervision in the best possible way. It is bound to have some initial hiccups, but the best way to deal with them is to take an optimistic approach, familiarise with the Gold Guide and get on with the tasks.
References
- MODERNISING MEDICAL CAREERS (2007) A Guide to Postgraduate Specialty Training in the UK (The Gold Guide). Modernising Medical Careers (http://www.mmc.nhs.uk/default.aspx?page=281).
- DAY, E. & BROWN, N. (2000) The role of the
educational supervisor: a questionnaire survey. Psychiatric
Bulletin, 24, 216
-218.
[Abstract/Free Full Text] - SEMBHI, S. & LIVINGSTON, G. (2000) What trainees
and trainers think about supervision. Psychiatric
Bulletin, 24, 376
-379.
[Abstract/Free Full Text]
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