Workforce, training and education
Yorkshire and Humber

Prospective registrars

 

The School of Public Health would be delighted to welcome you to the Yorkshire and Humber programme. New starters in the School of Public Health start their training in August each year; the recruitment process commences in November and further information about the process and registration can be found on the Faculty of Public Health's site.

We are a dynamic, friendly and supportive specialty school, delivering high quality, comprehensive training for individuals wishing to become Consultants in Public Health. We are keen to recruit registrars from a wide range of backgrounds and who represent the diversity of our communities across the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Our current Registrars have a range of experience including NHS such as nursing, medicine, management or commissioning, the Council from a range of areas, the Voluntary and Community Sector and a range of other organisations and professions.

The successful candidates could be working in any one of the 15 councils across Yorkshire. After the successful candidates have been made an offer the Head of school and potential Educational Supervisors will be in contact to make sure there is capacity in the candidate's desired location.

Training Programme Directors try to allocate posts that are reasonably commutable to the candidate’s current geographical position. For example, if a registrar lives in West Yorkshire it would be one of the 5 councils in West Yorkshire, and so on across the county. It should be noted that this is a rotational programme and registrars may be required to rotate between posts across the region.

The process used is detailed on the FPH website at: ​http://www.fph.org.uk/applications_in_england%2c_scotland_and_wales

 

The School of Public Health held a recruitment information event on 18th October 2022, this event was recorded and is available below. 

Any questions relating to the recruitment should be directed to the national Public Health recruitment team.

 

The Public Health team have compiled a list of the FAQs that were brought up during the session, these are available in the 'documents' panel.

I am not sure whether my previous experience meets the criteria for applying to the Public Health Training programme. Where can I find out more?

• Please see the Faculty of Public Health Person Specification document
• Additional information can be found on the FAQ (at the bottom of the FPH application process webpage here: https://www.fph.org.uk/training-careers/recruitment/application-process/)
• If you still cannot find the answer, please contact the Faculty of Public Health

How many training posts will there be in Yorkshire versus last year?

• Last year there were 5 posts. We will update when we know how many vacancies there will be this year

What is the average age of an applicant? Are you ever too old to apply?

• We don’t know the average age but people always have experience of other careers before they start this programme and sometimes this can be over a long period. There are, of course, no age limits ; just consider that this is a five year (full time) training programme working in various roles across the region with the view to working as a consultant afterwards.

If you are successful but not in your preferred location is there scope to transfer to your preferred area during the programme?

• Inter-Deanery transfers are open twice a year, but they are dependent upon the place you want to work having vacancies. Two people have recently re-applied after doing a year in another location to come to Yorkshire.

I have taken a year of maternity leave. Will this affect my application?

• This will not affect your application.

What criteria will be used for shortlisting at each stage of the recruitment process please?

• Elements of the ‘Person Specification’ are tested at all stages of the recruitment process – details of the specification can be found by clicking this link.
• Additional information can be found on the FAQ (at the bottom of the FPH page: https://www.fph.org.uk/training-careers/recruitment/application-process/), particularly questions 48 and 71.

I believe the vacancies will be advertised on NHS jobs, what search criteria should we look for please to help us find them?

• The application process is managed by the Faculty of Public Health (FPH). There is more information available at https://www.fph.org.uk/training-careers/recruitment/application-process/. On NHS jobs searching for "public health" should bring up the jobs, and you can also look at the Medical and Dental Recruitment site at Health Education England here: https://specialtytraining.hee.nhs.uk/ All applicants apply via the same process and therefore this site is appropriate for all applicants, not just medical or dental applicants.

• You can view the ‘number of posts and competition ratios’ webpage to see how many jobs each deanery has available. Please note that no matter where you want to work, you still apply through the central application system on Oriel.

When does the application portal open? For how long is the application portal open?

• The recruitment process is managed by the Faculty of Public Health (FPH). There is more information available here: https://www.fph.org.uk/training-careers/recruitment/recruitment-informat... The application window opens on the 5 November 2020. It is recommended that applicants keep an eye on the webpage above for up to date information.

Do you get many people applying more than once, and are they ever successful?

• Yes, many people who are currently in the training programme applied more than once. Don’t give up!

Where can I get some more public health work experience?

• Doctors currently in training may be able to arrange some taster experience in a local programme. Advice should be sought from your own foundation programme director. Applicants from other backgrounds might approach a local public health organisation. Alternatively, either group should contact the local Health Education England Public Health Department. But please note that this is going to be especially difficult given the circumstances surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, meaning that there is less capacity to provide experience (and face-to-face working).

For an International Medical Graduate (IMG) who intends to follow a non-medical route, recently completed a 2-year double master course in English, is an IELTS waiver possible?

• This would need to be checked with the Faculty of Public Health

Will there be face to face selection and assessment centres this year? If not, how will this be done remotely?

• The recruitment process is managed by the Faculty of Public Health (FPH). There is more information available here: Recruitment Information. It is anticipated that the Selection Centre will be held virtually but it is recommended that applicants keep an eye on the webpage above for up to date information.

Can you take a calculator into the exams?

No.

What changes are made to the training programme for trainees who already have an MPH (both completed recently and > 5 years ago)? Will you ‘skip’ a year of the programme?

• If you have undertaken an MPH recently, the programme will be reduced to either 4 years or 4 years and 3 months (by taking up to four additional modules), depending on which MPH you have. This will be discussed with your programme director once you have been accepted onto the training programme.

At the end of training will you be guaranteed a job?

• There are no guaranteed jobs at the end of the programme, although support is given during training in preparation for applying for jobs. Presently there are more consultant jobs than applicants, and in Yorkshire and Humber registrars have always secured posts upon completion of their training.

Are you able to take a career break or year out of the scheme to work abroad?

• Yes, people have taken career breaks for a variety of reasons. We support overseas placements and people have done Out of Programme Experience (OOPE) and Out of Programme Training (OOPT) in Australia, Israel, Eswatini, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Nepal etc.

What are the most important skills that a PH trainee needs to have?

• Enthusiasm to tackle inequalities and improve health! You learn the technical stuff on the programme.

What does the health protection placement look like? What are the on-call requirements? Do these differ between people who have medical backgrounds and those who come from other backgrounds?

• All registrars whatever their background will do on call work once they have undergone the health protection training. Following successful completion of your first Diplomate exam, you do a 3-month WTE minimum placement with Yorkshire and the Humber Health Protection Team (Yorkshire & Humber offer 4 months to give you time to get everything done). The Acute Response Desk is based in Leeds – in previous years you would be there 1 -2 days a week and this is now currently possible via remote working.
• Registrars are encouraged to take on longer term projects within Health Protection that run for the duration of their health protection placement.
• The Out of Hours (OOH) covers the whole of Yorkshire and Humber and so is usually quite busy – it is not uncommon to be working most of the shift in the daytime/evening though rarer to be woken at night. All of this work is currently carried out from home. There is always someone else available for advice and extra coverage if needed and your education is supported by the CCDC (consultant in communicable disease control) on call.
• The whole registrar rota covers 2 weekday evenings (5pm to 9am) each week and Saturday and Sunday (9am-9am) and each registrar normally does between a 1 in 5 and 1 in 9 on call rota depending on numbers. During COVID we are covering every weeknight and weekend where possible (paid for extra shifts) but this is on a voluntary basis.
• Pay for standard on call varies by contract type
o If you were previously under a contract that wasn’t medical: AfC 20% banding of basic pay
o If you were previously on a medical contract:
▪ Previously on the ‘old’ contract (pre-2016): the same
▪ New contract (2016): This is more complicated as it considers availability allowance + frequency % + pay for work done.

For medical doctors, is it possible to continue your parent specialty training alongside public health training, (i.e. dual training)?

• This is not an available option at present.

Is there any opportunity to consider salary matching, I have heard this was available in previous years?

• This question is addressed in the FPH FAQ document: https://www.fph.org.uk/media/2795/2020-essential-guidance-faqs-public-he...
• Further information may be found on the following NHS employers pay protection page. Please note the arrangements under the new 2016 contract https://www.nhsemployers.org/pay-pensions-and-reward/medical-staff/docto...

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