Higher Specialist Trainees (HST/ST4-6)

Welcome to Higher Specialist Training in Health Education England working across Yorkshire and the Humber. The 3 year training programme will allow you to gain a great breadth of experience in emergency care. You will also be supported in achieving the necessary skills to pass the FRCEM. There is a wealth of expertise to support your pursuit of excellence in your chosen specialty. To really shine you will need to be organised, determined and resilient. We hope you enjoy your training!
 

Maya Naravi / Alison Smith 

Heads of School

Starting out

You will be assigned an Educational Supervisor for the duration of training. You will be expected to develop competencies as outlined in the 2015 EM curriculum. To do this you will need to be registered for the college ePortfolio. You need to meet your Educational Supervisor at the outset and at 3 monthly intervals thereafter. Please highlight early if you are having any difficulties making progress as required.

Transitioning from Core training to higher speciality training

When beginning higher levels of specialist training the focus of your development as a clinician will shift towards managing departments and over seeing junior staff in preparation for your CCT and life as a consultant.

Yorkshire and humber has a great network of hospitals and at CT/ST3 level this transition process has already begun - worked in through rota structures and support from supervisors. Many of the trusts will have you managing the department in some capacity - either overnight with consultant support on site, or pairing you up with a more senior HST trainee as part of out of hours cover in some of the larger departments.

Once you have progressed to HST the management of the department, flow of patients and support of junior colleagues becomes much more integral to your daily role and responsibilities. Support from your supervisors and other senior colleagues allows you to develop this aspect of training and it can seem a bit daunting at first.

Starting to think about sign off early becomes important as many trainees will agree. Although CCT seems a distant thought the exam structure is such that aspects of the FRCEM can now be taken early during training. Many trainees choose to sit the critical appraisal exam early in HST and it is also important to consider which aspects of the management portfolio you might complete for ARCP each year. In addition to these, the Quality improvement project (QIP) is a big undertaking and organising things early to plan ahead is important as trainees often find that rotating out of the trust before the project is completed makes things much more difficult moving forward.

Early US scanning after completing level 1 sign off in ST3 is important both for maintaining skills but also to start a log book working towards evidencing competencies.

Approaching the End of Training

As you approach the end of training there are a few key things to remember in terms of completing training and leaving the training programme.

We have tried to ensure that the key things people contact us about are on the page below but, as ever, we are more than happy for you to get in touch with any queries and we will always do our best to help.

The chances are we will be in touch with you over the next few weeks and months anyway but just in case we do not get to speak to you in person we wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for all your hard work over the years. We wish the very best in whatever you chose to do in the future and last but not least, congratulations for completing your training post.

Applying for (Certificate of Completion of Training) CCT

Once you have received your ARCP outcome 6 the next step is to apply for CCT (Certificate of Completion of Training). It is important to remember that you need to apply for your CCT with both the College and the GMC.

Thankfully both organisations have tried to simplify the process by putting the applications ‘online’ but you do still need to do some preparation work to ensure you have all the information that you need.

(You can actually start to apply for CCT with the college up to 6 months before your CCT date but remember they will not be able to make their recommendation to the GMC until they have your outcome 6).

Please note that you need copies of all of your ARCP outcome forms to apply for CCT. If you are missing any from your time in Yorkshire please can you get in touch with us asap so we can help you get these:  emsupport.yh@hee.nhs.uk

It is worth remembering that it can take some time to get the applications processed. Both the College and GMC work very hard to deal with the applications as quickly as they can do but there can be a slight delay during peak periods.

Period of Grace

Trainees are able to apply for Consultant posts up to six months before their anticipated CCT/CESR-CP date. Not all trainees are able to do this or are successful in their applications. The Period of Grace allows doctors who have completed their training to continue in the Specialty Registrar grade for a time limited period of time, whilst they find employment, usually in a consultant level post. The doctor is no longer considered to be in training, but is in post for the purposes of service.

Trainees are required to notify Health Education England within Yorkshire and the Humber of their intent to take up a Period of Grace a minimum of 6 months prior to the date of CCT/CESR(CP) using a Period of Grace Intent Form.  Trainees should have discussions with their TPD prior to the mid point of their final training year to support their decision as to whether or not a Period of Grace will be required. It is not always possible to guarantee the availability of a post for a trainee to complete a Period of Grace. All posts are subject to availability within the training programme.

Please note:

• In addition to completing the form please discuss your wish to take you period of grace with your training programme director.
• We need to receive your application 6 months before your CCT date – this is to ensure we have it in time for validating the rotations.
• If your plans change please let us know on emsupport.yh@hee.nhs.uk in addition to informing your TPD.
• If you leave your post before the end of your period of grace you will need to check whether your employing Trust need you to work a period of notice. Once your last working day is confirmed please just let us know.