RGCP E-Portfolio
You will need to register with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) as soon as possible in order for them to provide you with an e-portfolio. RCGP Membership Department Tel: 020 3188 7766, email membership@rcgp.org.uk (link to membership page below). You will keep a portfolio containing details of your experience and evidence of development and achievement of competencies. At the beginning of each placement you will need to make contact/meet with your clinical supervisors and set your learning objectives. We would encourage you to share your e-portfolio with your clinical supervisors as it should be a reflection on your experiences and your learning. Twice a year you will attend a review meeting with your Educational Supervisor who will review your progress including your assessments and discuss any problems that you may be having.
The e-portfolio contains at its heart a learning log. This is a very useful document as it helps you to focus on what you are learning and what else you may need to look at. You should record the main points you have learnt after a tutorial with your trainer or after a joint surgery or a session with the practice nurse etc. You should also record what queries that session has raised for you. Your trainer can then take this into account when planning future learning activities. It also forms a record for you about questions you intend to investigate for yourself.
You may want to keep a log of interesting patients you have seen so that you can find out what happens to them in the future, follow through on their investigation results or the outcome of any referrals that you might have made. This is more of a private document for your own benefit
The whole process is recorded electronically and you should all have your own e-portfolio in order to do this. The assessments should be co-ordinated by yourself, so it is very important that you become familiar with what is required of you when. The Workplace-Based Assessment is designed to be a progressive document demonstrating your development over the 3 years. So, it is important to remember that you are not meant to be perfect from the word go. As long as you can show that you are learning and developing your skills over the 3 years that is fine. Please do not expect perfection from yourself immediately.
The local GP trainers are all experienced in these assessment procedures and the consultants have also been made familiar with them.
You can either pay for the e-portfolio and all of the examinations one at a time, or join the college as an AiT (Associate in Training) which will actually cost less over the 3 year period of your training. The college liaise with GMC who issue your certificate at the end of your training. Further guidance about this can be found on the college website. Again, it is very important to get this right or your CCT might not happen when you expect it to. It does cost money though, so brace yourself.
Top Tips for E-Portfolio
- Register with the RCGP for certification purposes as soon as you are allowed to.
- Keep on top of your assessments for the Workplace Based Assessment
- Plan to do the Applied Knowledge Test and Clinical Skills Assessment in your final year
MRCGP
In order to qualify as a GP, you will have to meet all the requirements of MRCGP in order to obtain your certificate of completion of training or CCT. Once you have finished as a GP trainee, you can’t work in any capacity whatsoever in general practice without this certificate. So, it is quite important to get everything done correctly.
The whole assessment process is based on the GP curriculum as devised by the RCGP and we would again urge you to become familiar with this.
MRCGP Workplace Based Assessment (WPBA)
Please click here for further information
Sick Leave / Maternity Leave / Paternity Leave / Special Leave
It is imperative that if you have any time off for sick leave that you inform your Practice or hospital post.
You are responsible for recording your own sick leave. Please note that in accordance with GMC Regulations, trainees are able to take 14 working days of unscheduled leave (sick leave, maternity leave, paternity leave) per year without this affecting your CCT date. If there are prolonged periods of absence you may need to have an extension to your training.
Form R part B – Self-Declaration for the Revalidation of Doctors in Training
It is a mandatory require for trainees to self report and declare ‘time out of training’. This includes all forms of absence such as sickness, maternity, paternity, compassionate paid/unpaid leave, jury service etc. Failure to report this accurately can bring into question issues of probity.
Maternity/Paternity Leave
If maternity leave is taken please note there is no guarantee that upon your return a post will be available to you. You may need to go on a waiting list and perhaps transferred to another scheme where a post is available.
Changes to Completion Date
Any changes to your programme due to periods of absence such as sick leave, maternity leave, paternity leave, out of programme must be discussed with your Training Programme Director (TPD). It is their responsibility to allocate your placement, calculate your completion date and update your e-portfolio record.
Applied Knowledge Test
This is a machine marked written test to look at core knowledge.
Preparing to take the Applied Knowledge Test (AKT)
Simulated Consultation Assessment (SCA)
The SCA at a glance:
- An assessment of twelve simulated consultations, each lasting twelve minutes
- Conducted remotely in a local GP surgery
- Sat only during ST3 training year
- Delivered across 9 months of the year - see full info on exam dates and booking windows
- The exam fee will be £1,180- see the full exam fee breakdown and explanation
Workplace Based Assessment (WpBA)
Please visit the RCGP WPBA for more information as to what is required in each phase
Annual Review of Competence Progression (ARCP) and Completion of Training (CCT)
The E-Portfolio of each trainee carries the evidence that is reviewed and considered by the ARCP panel at least once every year. Reviews are conducted more than annually if there is a need.
The panel consists of representatives of GP education including programme directors, trainers and lay members and external assessors. The ARCP panel will review your e-Portfolio including your evidence, assessments, educators comments and reports and the quality of your reflective log entries. This will allow panel to assess your progress against the competencies and decide whether you have made satisfactory progress to proceed to the next training year. Should the outcome not be satisfactory, you and your trainer will be called to a face-to-face meeting with panel during which panel will decide whether you can proceed or whether they will recommend an extension to your current level of training.
Trainees who pass WPBA at final review and also have a pass in the AKT and RCA will be recommended as eligible to apply for certification of completion of training (CCT), inclusion in the General Medical Council’s GP Register and membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners. The GMC will only allow you to go onto their GP register when you have your CCT and inclusion on this register is essential for working as a fully fledged GP.
Resources
A good website with resources regarding transsexual and gender identity issues is http://www.gp.brightonandhoveccg.nhs.uk/about-guide.