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. 2014 Apr;14(2):149-56.
doi: 10.7861/clinmedicine.14-2-149.

Survey of core medical trainees in the United Kingdom 2013 - inconsistencies in training experience and competing with service demands

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Survey of core medical trainees in the United Kingdom 2013 - inconsistencies in training experience and competing with service demands

Fiona Tasker et al. Clin Med (Lond). 2014 Apr.

Abstract

There is currently considerable concern about the attractiveness of hospital medicine as a career and experiences in core medical training (CMT) are a key determinant of whether trainees continue in the medical specialties. Little is understood about the quality and impact of the current CMT programme and this survey was designed to assess this. Three key themes emerged. Firstly, the demands of providing service have led to considerable loss of training opportunities, particularly in outpatients and formal teaching sessions. Trainees spend a lot of this service time doing menial tasks and over 90% report that service takes up 80-100% of their time. Secondly, clinical and educational supervision is variable, with trainees sometimes getting little consultant feedback on their clinical performance. Finally, 44% of trainees report that CMT has not prepared them to be a medical registrar and many trainees are put off acute medical specialties by their experiences in CMT.

Keywords: CMT; Core medical trainees; core medical training trainees; service provision; supervision; training experience.

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Figures

Fig 1.
Fig 1.
Actual frequency of educational supervision meetings and ideal frequency of meetings.
Fig 2.
Fig 2.
Proportion of CMT rotation containing an acute or general medical on call component, actual and desired. CMT = core medical trainee.
Fig 3.
Fig 3.
Frequency of common tasks in an average CMT weekday shift. CMT = core medical training.
Fig 4.
Fig 4.
Number of outpatient clinics attended per year and number of clinics that trainees would prefer to attend.
Fig 5.
Fig 5.
Number of patients seen in each outpatient clinic.
Fig 6.
Fig 6.
Number of local teaching sessions per year.
Fig 7.
Fig 7.
Number of local and regional simulation sessions attended by CMT2s per year. CMT = core medical training.

Comment in

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