Newham General Practice Vocational Training Scheme
Introduction
Newham, situated in the East End of London, is a varied multicultural inner-city area with a reputation for innovation in primary health care. The population is very diverse in its social structure, and this is combined with a cultural and ethnic richness that is unique in this country. This creates a fascinating environment in which to study general practice, which is after all about applying the sciences of medicine to the unique situations of individual people. Newham was traditionally served by a large number of single handed GP, many recruited in the 1960s and 70s. Many of these doctors are now retiring, and together with many innovative sessional and fellowship posts becoming available many of our VTS graduates decide to continue working locally. Certainly we are all keen to help you get the right job for you. Of course, in addition to being an interesting place to work, Newham has easy access to all the facilities of London neighbouring counties and rural Essex.
General practice training in Newham is at the leading edge of development of general practice training in the region. We have 3 experienced enthusiastic course organisers and an expanding band of trainers and training practices supporting the VTS and a strong group of GP Specialist Trainees driving us on.
Mission Statement
The Newham GP VTS aims to provide a comprehensive opportunity for doctors to develop a career in general practice, with an inner-city flavour.
Features of the Newham GPVTS
· Whole day release course allowing innovative and interactive learning based in primary care.
· Small group learning
· Flexibility of Specialist Trainee rotations to meet individual learning needs.
· Many multiple learner training practices in modern spacious buildings.
· We provide a good training ground and if you can do quality general practice here you can do it anywhere
The Newham Scheme has moved to the 12 month hospital training and 24 month GP primary care placement rotations.
Example of 5 different rotations
6 month rotations alternating between GP/GP ITP post and hospital posts for the first 2 years
1 year fixed GP placement for ST3
Aiming for a diverse experience across 3 different Newham practices in 3 years.
Hospital posts are based at Newham University Hospital Trust and Newham Centre for Mental Health.
The 12 months general practitioner ST3 posts for the third year of the rotation are in the local approved training practices. All of these have a track record of commitment to education and so the posts are truly supernumerary educational posts rather than simply ‘an extra pair of hands’, with regular teaching input and study leave. Of course there is no substitute for the experience of working as a GP, and so your time will be balanced between surgery work and study. The posts provide excellent clinical experience from which to learn. During the registrar year you will be entitled to 30 days study leave including attendance at the day release course. At the start of the ST3 year your trainer will help you assess your educational needs and then plan your training programme accordingly, leading to your final assessments at the end of the year and to the MRCGP assessments. A list of training practices and trainers are also available on the website. Each practice has its own style and mix of patients which broadens the educational opportunities. You will see that some of the practices have more than one trainer, allowing for multiple trainees to learn together and gain peer support as well as learning from different styles of trainer. The number of training practices continues to expand. All of the trainers are happy to be contacted if you want to find out more about each of the registrar jobs.
The Whole Day Release Course and the group
We have an advantage of a whole day release system meeting every 2 weeks for all trainees during term time. We meet outside the hospital setting, this is to provide a protected learning space and enjoy a calmer environment. This effectively increases the time set aside for training and means we can be more flexible in teaching methods. We can also develop themes more fully over the course of a day, and build time for peer support and group working – the best way to learn is with an enthusiastic group of peers. It is a good way to stay in touch with general practice during the hospital posts as we meet on a rotational basis in local practices. We also meet for special events and social get togethers. The group work is planned by the group based on our curriculum framework, and arranged by the course organisers. Both the educational element of the course and the process of being part of the group are important elements of training. We continually revise the curriculum to ensure that it is as learner centred as possible.
Features of our Day Release
· Educational flexibility
· Strong group support
· In depth training
· Primary care based training
· Learner centred education
Any Questions?
You may find it helpful to talk to one of the programme directors about the VTS, or better still, for the real story, talk to one of the current trainees on the scheme, who would be happy to answer your questions about the scheme.