New Trainee Welcome Day 2024

As the Part 2 exam is delivered over 2 days, one major challenge is time management. We recommend that you practice interpreting and writing reports on histopathological slides and non-gynaecological cytopathology.

Also, not only focus on slide interpretation, but demonstrate having a holistic view.

For the Part 1 – as soon as you have entered into histopathology you be involved in the practice aspects, build up your knowledge base from day 1, liaise with senior trainees, etc. The 3-hour examination is generally orientated towards assessing the candidate’s overall knowledge and understanding of histopathology/cytopathology, including the full range of autopsy practices undertaken in a district general hospital in the UK and the basic science underpinning pathology.

The College has no influence over which trusts allow examination fees to be claimed. Trainees who pay examination fees themselves are able to claim tax back on those fees, and also the trainee registration fees.

It is never too early to start having conversations with your educational supervisor and training programme director. They may be able to arrange for you to spend 2 weeks in that specialty. There is national recruitment process every year, training at ST3 level and start applying the year before. All trainees must have completed integrated cellular pathology training and have obtained FRCPath Part 1. Please note that paediatric pathology, diagnostic neuropathology and forensic histopathology are specialties and not subspecialties.

Dr Liz Hook has been recently appointed as the National Paediatric Pathology Training Programme Director. Dr Hook is looking into this issue, and it is being discussed at the moment. Your training programme director will get back to you.

Please refer also to the syllabus that directs the types of ECEs that should be undertaken as you progress through training. There are also some examples in appendix E in the curriculum. Some examples are cutting up specimens or discussing a case with a misdiagnosis. The ECE is also available in the LEPT system.

No because dual training programmes are approved in advance by the General Medical Council. If you wanted to train in both paediatric and histopathology, you would have to do them sequentially but not as a dual training programme.

You begin at ST3. Please note that paediatric pathology, diagnostic neuropathology and forensic histopathology are specialties and not subspecialties.

Please see the autopsy section of the histopathology syllabus.

It is up to the deanery and if there is a post available. You would have to apply separately for a post after your histopathology training and this would also depend on availability of posts.

You can use DipRCPath only if you have agreed to become a diplomate of the College and pay the diplomate fee. If you do this, you will maintain your registered trainee status with the College and will only have to pay one fee to the College (diplomate fee). If you do not agree to become a diplomate of the College, and do not pay the diplomate fee, you cannot use DipRCPath.

This is not automatic and will rely on you being able to demonstrate that you have completed all aspects of the curriculum as well. New guidance about accelerating training is about to be published so please keep an eye out for that. Each request will be looked at case by case.

No, they are additional skills and not a replace for the FRCPath. The only specialty you can branch out to is paediatric pathology, diagnostic neuropathology and forensic histopathology and there is a separate recruitment process for these specialties.

You are expected to do a full standard autopsy. We do not specific numbers as it is a competency-based curriculum.

This is not automatic and will rely on you being able to demonstrate that you have completed all aspects of the curriculum as well. New guidance about accelerating training is about to be published so please keep an eye out for that.

Please email [email protected] who will be able to help you with your question.

Any issues and questions on LEPT, please send an email to [email protected].

There is guidance on the LEPT system.

If you check the hard copies of the supervised learning events (SLEs) on the College website, there is some guidance as to who can complete you SLEs for you. You can also seek advice from your educational supervisor.

We recommend that you draft an annual review of competence progression (ARCP) at your earliest convenience. Then, when you get the further details from your deanery you can enter them into the draft ARCP. Also, if you do not know the ARCP date, you can enter a fictitious date and then enter the real date later on.

If you do more than the minimum number of workplace-based assessments, they will only count for that year of training. A Certification of Completion of Training (CCT) date may be brought forward only by demonstrating that curriculum outcomes have been achieved ahead of the expected trajectory set out in the relevant specialty curriculum (including all necessary examinations and assessments).

You have to do 3 multisource feedbacks during your training. Normally every other year – ST1, ST3 and ST5.

There is no specific form to complete. You create an activity and record that you are having an educational supervisor meeting.

There are 11 Capabilities in Practice (CiPs) that describe the professional tasks or work within the scope of histopathology. Each CiP has a set of descriptors associated with that activity or task. There are 7 generic CiPs that cover the universal requirements of all specialties as described in the generic professional capabilities (GPC) framework. The 4 specialty CiPs describe the laboratory and clinical tasks or activities that are essential to the practice of histopathology. When you put all your evidence in LEPT you can assign your activities to the relevant CiP.

If you look at the syllabus, in the first column there is 'Areas of learning' where it shows what knowledge and skills the capabilities in practice (CiPs) relate to.

Your results will be automatically upload in the LEPT system after the results are published.

It won't be because you have only just had a LEPT record created, but please contact the Assessment team ([email protected]) to ask if this can be uploaded retrospectively.

You will be able to upload files only under the 'Resources' tab. However, should you specifically want to draw attention to that file upload, then you can create an entry under 'Training development', in which you can link to the file in question.

You should not be using the CPD system while you are in training.

Yes, that would be absolutely fine! You can edit the dates at any point, so if for any reason your year length changes, you can edit it as needed, along with updating your annual review of competence progression (ARCP) panel date to the correct date once you have received that closer to the time.

Once a year in discussion with your educational supervisor.

This is where you can record the rotations you are on, alongside specific details such as if you are less than full time. Even if you have no specifics edits to make, it would still be worth adding in each rotation you are on for your own records, as well as for ease of navigation by the ARCP Panel.

You can upload it under 'Resources', and then add an entry under 'Training development' to add more details regarding the personal development points (PDPs; should you wish), and you can link the file you have uploaded to this entry.

You can upload an actual file/copy of the logbook under 'Resources', and then add an entry under 'Training development' to add more details regarding the logbook (should you wish), and you can link the file you have uploaded to this entry.

You have at least a couple of months to complete your multisource feedback (MSF).

The CiP/GPCs will appear on the assessment tab where you have completed the DOP, etc., once the assessor has approved it. It is not just on the 'Resources' tab where you can see the CiPs and GPCs, and you will not need to link a resource to every assessment you fill in.

That is correct. Your hospital and educational supervisor, although do not worry too much about making this perfect, it is mainly for reference.

You should still be able to link it via your RCPath account. If they do have issues linking it, we can work together with the support team at the learning hub to fix it. Please email [email protected] if you need help.

Please email: [email protected]

The postgraduate dean will issue a training number to each doctor appointed to a specialty training programme on registering with a completed Form R. This procedure should be completed within 1 month of the start date. If you have not received your NTN within a few weeks of starting your training, please contact your deanery.

The number won’t be adjusted on LEPT, but trainees will complete the assessments pro rata.

There are very few tropical medicine training places, and they advertised once a year in the BMJ. If you are interested, then you may wish to discuss these opportunities with Dr Sylviane Defres, who is the training programme director in Liverpool and Dr Phil Gothard, who is the training programme director in London. Please talk to your training programme director who will put you in contact with them.

The Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (DMTH) does count.

Previous experience can count, e.g. 12 months clinical work in low- or middle-income countries and it is in designated place where your clinical supervisor is recognised by the SAC. If you not in London or Liverpool, please speak to your training programme director who would be able advise you.

The vast majority of infectious diseases (ID) physicians working in ID units around the country working within tropical medicine do not have a tropical medicine CCT. It does not preclude you from having an interest and working within tropical medicine. It is about your capabilities.

It does depend on the deanery, but please talk to your training programme director as it will probably already be planned.

If you do the Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (DTM&H) out of training, that is 3 months that would be counted as out-of-programme experience but would not necessarily count towards your time in training, although it is relevant if you are an infectious diseases trainee.

It depends the local decisions on training are on your trust/deanery. You have a small budget for training, so it is up to you to decide. There are 3 other providers of infectious diseases training, which are Sheffield, Glasgow and Médecins Sans Frontières, which do out-of-hours training. They do an exam that is supervised by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries. They also offer it online with some face-to-face teaching at weekends if you are unable to step out of training.