Information for trainees
Turnitin and AI writing detection
Trainees and training officers who have recently looked at the similarity reports generated by the Turnitin Checker in OneFile will have noticed that in addition to a similarity score and report, the Turnitin Checker now also generates a score and a report which suggests how much of the text in uploaded documents has been generated by AI.
Trainees should ALWAYS ensure that they review the similarity and AI writing detection reports generated by Turnitin and they will need to be prepared to defend their work with their assessors if it achieves a high score in either report.
If it is clear and obvious from the similarity or AI reports that the work is not the trainee’s and the high scores cannot easily be explained, then assessors should return it to the trainee in OneFile and not sign it off.
The National School WILL reserve the right to refer a trainee to a training management panel if the Turnitin Checker provides repeated evidence of unprofessional practice or clear plagiarism.
Click here to read the guidance for trainees about using the Turnitin Checker in OneFile
Completion criteria
As some of you are heading towards the end of your programme we thought we would remind you of the completion deadline so you can plan accordingly.
Unless you have an approved extension via the School’s Exceptional Extenuating Circumstances policy or the University, you should be aiming to have achieved the following by 8 April 2024:
1. 100% completion of your e-portfolio – OneFile
- Module A-CS-S1 – Introduction to Clinical Echocardiography
- Module SPS121 – Ultrasound Imaging in Cardiac Disease
2. Pass in the PGCert in Clinical Echocardiography
3. Accreditation with the British Society of Echocardiography (BSE) – theory and practical examinations
- Level 2 Transthoracic Accreditation Process
Click here to view the ETP completion criteria
Expectations for training time
We have had a number of queries from both trainees and training officers about the amount of time trainees are expected to be in Echo. NHS England funds all trainees on the programme (both direct entry and in-service) to allow them to be ‘supernumerary’. This means that they will be released from other duties for the entire time on the programme. Trainees should be under supervision at all times. This can be indirect or distance supervision as they become more experienced. They should not be pulled out of their training to provide routine services or to do on-call sessions.
Trainees should attend other services/diagnostics/clinics where it forms part of their training on the programme. In-service candidates can take part in occasional sessions in related areas (e.g. Catheter Laboratory sessions) to maintain competencies and to provide a broader training remit and understanding of context, but trainees should not be expected to provide service provision where it detracts from their training. The 18-month timeline to successful BSE Accreditation is ambitious but achievable, provided trainees have sufficient practical experience, workplace training and support.
For study leave we recommend that trainees are allocated 1 day per week throughout the programme to concentrate on their academic work. This can be flexible, so that when there are deadlines for academic work such as examinations or assignments, trainees and training officers might want to allocate extra days, with less need for these at other times so that trainees can concentrate on their work-based learning. It is likely that trainees will concentrate on their academic learning in the first year. The last 6 months is likely to be focussed on finishing their OneFile competencies and collecting logbook and digital cases for the BSE practical exam.
New learning module to support trainees to develop evidence for training activities
One of the most frequent requests that we receive at the School is for more guidance about how trainees can and should develop their evidence to demonstrate achievement of training activities / competencies. In response to this important need, we have recently published a new module in our catalogue of learning materials for trainers on the NHS Learning Hub, entitled ‘Developing evidence to demonstrate achievement of training activities’.
This module focuses on what makes good evidence for training activities in work-based training. The module addresses how different types of evidence can be generated in the course of work-based training and it offers guidance about the different types of evidence that can be generated for the different types of training activity (whether for an entrustable training activity, an observational training activity or a developmental training activity).
Although the module is written for trainers, trainees will find much that is of value in the module. We intend to develop a version of this guidance for trainees in the near future.
This new body of guidance is fully aligned with the new STP curricula and the NSHCS work-based assessment standards. It will provide trainers and trainees with concrete help to meet those standards.
To access the NHS Learning Hub you will need to have an account with the service. The details on how to do this can be found within the training standards pages on the School website.
Information for training officers
Launch of the revised ETP Curriculum
The revised curriculum will be implemented for the next cohort of the ETP starting in September 2024. We launched the revised ETP curriculum last month which can be found in the Curriculum Library.
Click here to view the revised ETP curricula
NSHCS work-based assessment standards for the ETP
Alongside the revised curriculum, we’re also taking the opportunity to introduce the Schools work-based assessment standards to the ETP from September 2024. Work-based assessments include training activities (known in previous curricula as competencies), DOPS, OCEs, CBDs. The standards define how work-based assessments should be conducted and the responsibilities of trainees, trainers and assessors.
We would strongly advise that you familiarise yourself with the standards early on so that you have a good grasp of how each of the work-based assessments should be conducted.
Click here to view the NSHCS work-based assessment standards
We recently concluded a series of short ‘explainer’ webinars about the work-based assessment standards for the STP which will also be helpful for ETP trainers and assessors.
View the ‘explainer’ webinar on the WBA standard for observed assessment
View the ‘explainer’ webinar on the WBA standard for case-based discussions
View the ‘explainer’ webinar on the WBA standard for training activities
Reframing competencies as training activities
With the introduction of the School’s work-based assessment standards, we’ve started talking about training activities. ‘Training activities’ is simply the new name for ‘competencies’. For 2023 trainees and onwards, we’ve set out our expectations for the completion of training activities in the work-based assessment standards.
We’re now starting to introduce this language across our resources and information, including the Curriculum Library and OneFile, and will phase out references to ‘competencies’. We’ve made this change for a number of reasons including the confusion this has caused with other training and accreditation systems in workplaces. The aim of our programmes remains the same. We’ve just taken this opportunity to update our language.
Click here to read about our rationale for reframing competencies
New learning module to support trainees to develop evidence for training activities
One of the most frequent requests that we receive at the School is for more guidance about how trainees can and should develop their evidence to demonstrate achievement of training activities / competencies. In response to this important need, we have recently published a new module in our catalogue of learning materials on the NHS Learning Hub, entitled ‘Developing evidence to demonstrate achievement of training activities’.
This module focuses on what makes good evidence for training activities in work-based training. The module addresses how different types of evidence can be generated in the course of work-based training and it offers guidance about the different types of evidence that can be generated for the different types of training activity (whether for an entrustable training activity, an observational training activity or a developmental training activity).
This new body of guidance is fully aligned with the new STP curricula and the NSHCS work-based assessment standards. It will provide trainers and trainees with concrete help to meet those standards. The module is also fully aligned with the recently-published NSHCS training standards and expectations. It is part of a set of learning modules associated with training standard 1: Plan, design and assess learning and training opportunities.
To access the NHS Learning Hub you will need to have an account with the service. The details on how to do this can be found within the training standards pages on the School website.
Express an interest in sharing your good training practice
In many areas of our work, we receive requests to support trainers in the workplace by connecting them with each other and, in particular, by helping them learn from centres and colleagues that have developed good training practice.
This year the School is hoping to launch a new initiative in which we run regular webinars featuring trainers or trainer networks sharing their practice.
We are keen to share and promote good practice in many different areas. We are particularly keen to share practice that is concerned with training planning, work-based training methods, working with the new STP curricula, supporting reflective practice, generating evidence for training activities, supporting trainees and preparing trainees for their final assessment. We will not limit the scope of the webinars to these topics and are hoping to promote good practice very broadly.
If you or your network have developed practice that you feel could be valuable to share with your peers, please express an interest in sharing your practice via the form linked to below.
Click here to express an interest in contributing to our sharing good practice webinar series
ETP trainer drop-in sessions
This year we’ve expanded our trainers’ drop-in sessions to include the ETP.
At the drop-in sessions you will have the opportunity to talk to Training Programme Director Jane Lynch and School staff about any aspect of the programme. The next session will be on 22 February. Drop-in any time between 12:30 and 1:30pm.
Click here to find out more about the new STP trainer drop-in sessions
Missed a previous edition of the ETP Monthly Memo?
We’ve published copies of the Monthly Memo for ETP trainees and training officers on our website.
Click here to view previous editions of the ETP Monthly Memo.