Information about Professional Support Self-referrals
This webpage provides guidance to postgraduate doctors, dentists and public health practitioners in training (PGDiTs) about the Professional Support Self-referral process.
In addition to reading this information, we strongly encourage you to read through our Frequently Asked Questions.
Overview
- About the Professional Support Team
- Reasons to Self-refer to Professional Support
- Choosing to submit a Professional Support Self-referral
- How to submit a Professional Support Self-referral
- How we manage your self-referral
- How we use your information
About the Professional Support Team
Professional Support is delivered by a team of clinical Associate Deans and Professional Support Managers. All are experienced in advising postgraduate doctors, dentists and public health practitioners in training (PGDiTs) and will always approach your situation with professionalism and kindness. We provide a safe, non-judgemental space for you to discuss your experiences in more detail and explore what options and resources would be most supportive to you. We are here to support you in your choices and decision-making, to help you find a way forward.
Reasons to Self-refer to Professional Support
There are a variety of different reasons trainees contact us, they include, but are not limited to:
- Speaking to somebody independent of their programme about a training or relationship difficulty
- Seeking advice on professional development opportunities for a future educational leadership career
- Requesting guidance to access appropriate health and wellbeing resources
- Discussing the impact of unsuccessful examination attempts or non-progressive ARCP outcomes
- Considering how to overcome challenges when returning to training after a prolonged absence
- A space in which to discuss the viability of going LTFT and its potential impacts
To give a more specific example, enquiries often centre round career decisions, which can include:
- What you want to do next
- Whether you should change careers
- How you can overcome a challenge within your chosen specialty
- Whether you should pursue a unique career opportunity that has come your way
- How going less than full time or taking an out of programme opportunity will benefit your career
- How your training can work best alongside your health or personal needs
- How you can address aspects of your daily work that are troubling you
Every PGDiT and their circumstances are unique: there is no one-size-fits-all reason for a Professional Support Referral nor for the response you will receive. The Professional Support Team make sure their approach is tailored specifically to you, as an individual.
Choosing to submit a Professional Support Self-referral
There are many avenues for accessing support and we would encourage you to try and seek assistance from other sources before you self-refer to Professional Support.
In the first instance, we recommend taking some of the following actions:
- Talk to one of your supervisors or a colleague you trust – can they help?
- Speak to someone committed to supporting PGDiTs at your place of work. This could include pastoral tutors, training programme directors or directors of medical education. Depending on the nature of your circumstances, it may be appropriate to speak to a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian.
- Your employing trust will have an Employee Assistance Programme, Staff Support Programme and/or local wellbeing offer. You will be able to find details of what is available by visiting your trust's intranet site or contacting the HR department. If in doubt, your postgraduate medical education team in the trust will be able to direct you appropriately.
- Your GP is your healthcare practitioner so you should contact them if the support you require relates to your health.
- Consider whether you would benefit from working with one of the deanery's trained coaches to explore your circumstances in more detail and access facilitated support to achieve your desired outcome.
The majority of PGDiTs who come to us for help have already discussed their situation with someone, generally their educational supervisor. You don’t have to have spoken with somebody else first, we recognise that there might be sensitive issues that you might want to talk to someone outside your immediate training environment. It is helpful for us though if when you complete a self-referral form you give a very brief summary of any steps you have already taken with regard to your enquiry.
How to submit a Professional Support Self-referral
Our referral process is electronic. Please complete the Professional Support Self-Referral form, providing as much detail as you can as to your circumstances and why you are seeking assistance.
How we manage your self-referral
After you submit your referral form, it will be triaged by a member of the Professional Support Team. Based on the information you provide, they will identify the best source of support for you. In some circumstances, they may need to request further information before they can make recommendations.
The Professional Support Team will contact you within five working days of the submission of your form to offer you support, which may include:
- A recommendation of supportive resources that are tailored to you (this may be advice about a specific organisation that can support you, training course or other support mechanism that will best address your circumstances).
- Advice of a specific person to contact regarding your concerns (for example, they may refer you to a Careers Advisor or Head of School).
- Facilitating a meeting for you to discuss your circumstances in more depth with a senior member of the Professional Support Team (one of our Associate Deans or a Professional Support Manager).
A copy of your referral form will be saved in our secure Professional Support files, which are only accessible to the Professional Support Team. We save a copy of your referral form as a record for future reference, in case you choose to access Professional Support again.
How we use your information
The information you provide within your referral form will not be shared beyond the Professional Support Team. A copy of your referral form and any subsequent correspondence will be saved in a secure Professional Support file that is only accessible to the Professional Support Team. Recirds will be managed in accordance with NHS England's Records Management Policy.
This information will be retained so that we have a reference of what support you have been provided with in the past (in case of a second or subsequent self-referral) and to enable us to review the service that we provide.
Please remember we are independent of your training programme. Information provided to us will not be shared with your educational/clinical supervisor or training programme director. It will remain confidential to the Professional Support Team.
We may use the personal information you provide to contact you in the future to ask how you are getting on and/or for feedback on your experience of our service.