Publication

STP Monthly Memo (June 2021)

Our monthly memo for STP trainees and training officers features relevant news, helpful tips, opportunities to promote healthcare science and FAQs.

Filed under
STP Monthly Memo 2021
Published
2021
Publication type
Newsletter
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Message from your STP Training Programme Directors, Jane Lynch and Namir Al Hasso

Welcome to the June edition of the Scientist Training Programme Monthly Memo. We hope that all STP trainees and training officers are doing well and enjoying the nice June weather.

We have been busy at the National School of Healthcare Science. We continued with our new virtual drop-in session initiatives where we introduced the different teams in the School and hosted some productive one-to-one sessions with some trainees and training officers. We will continue to host these drop-in sessions, and we would encourage our trainees to join us in future sessions if there is a need to raise any training issue with us. Every concern is treated confidentially and individually.

We have completed the second session of our virtual Train the Trainer (TTT) sessions in 2021, which covered three webinars: introduction to the STP, assessing evidence in the workplace and training support. We have included presentations from some of our previous STP trainees to share their training experience, and we are very grateful to them.

The Midterm Review of Progression (MRP) process scoring has been completed. We would like to reiterate that this process is supportive and facilitative. We are now at the stage of conducting the MRP interviews with the relevant trainees and their departments.

The Health Education England National Education and Training Survey (NETS) will open again on 22nd June 2021. The NETS is an opportunity for trainees to tell us about their experience and share what is working well and what could be improved. We would encourage all our STP trainees to take part in this survey.

Finally, as we mentioned in the last Monthly Memo, we are still finalising the completion process for trainees completing the programme in 2022. With the data generated from the MRP and in consultation with the HCPC, we will publish our completion criteria in the near future so that trainees graduating in 2022 have a clear idea of how to complete the programme. In the meantime, if trainees or training officers have any concerns or queries, please do not hesitate to contact us by email directly.

Jane and Namir

Jane.lynch@hee.nhs.uk and Namir.AlHasso@hee.nhs.uk

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The HEE National Education and Training Survey will open again on Tuesday 22 June

The National Education and Training Survey (NETS) is the only national survey open to all healthcare students across all clinical learning environments.

The survey is run by Health Education England (HEE) as part of our work to improve the experience of all students and trainees working and training in clinical services across the NHS and beyond.

The survey opened this morning (Tuesday 22nd June) and takes just 10 minutes to fill in. Your feedback will help placement providers to make real changes to improve the student experience.

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Upcoming drop-in sessions for trainees and training officers

We offer regular drop-in sessions which provide a means through which trainees and training officers can speak to members of the School directly to access their expertise and guidance.

The drop-in sessions are offered on a regular basis and are themed to maintain focus for particular areas of support or guidance.

The discussions are confidential and usually offered on a 15 minute basis per person. Any issues not resolved or requiring follow up will be logged and further meetings arranged to address unresolved issues.

Click here to find out more about our drop-in sessions

Below are the dates for our upcoming drop-in sessions:

  • 30th June – Training support, scientific support
  • 28th July – STP new curricula and taking a trainee in 2022
  • 11th August – STP employers preparing for a new trainee
  • 25th August – Training support, scientific support

Click here to find our drop-in sessions timetable and event joining links

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Webinar: Curriculum launch for 2022 and what you need to know now

On Wednesday 21st July at 12:30pm HEE’s CEO, Navina Evans, will be joining the School in hosting a webinar to launch the new STP curriculum.

We will also talk about:

  • what you need to know now
  • where to find the new curriculua
  • where to find the stakeholder feedback from the review process
  • our schedule of communications going forward and how we will support you
  • what information is needed for the 2022 expressions of interest
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Stakeholder review for Health Informatics curriculum content

From 25th June we’ll be be asking stakeholders for feedback on the drafts of the new Health Informatics curriculum content.

We’ll be asking stakeholders to take a look at the curriculum and provide feedback through a survey. The process should take around an hour.

Feedback will inform the final curricula and will help to shape the future of the Health Informatics Scientist Training Programme.

Click here to find out how your can provide your feedback for the STP curriculum review

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Share your training plan

During the COVID-19 pandemic, significant numbers of healthcare scientists in training have had learning opportunities cancelled resulting in a substantial impact on experiential learning and curriculum completion.

Each specialism has been impacted differently and to help assist with training recovery we are looking to add to our example training plans on the website that show how you have adapted your training as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you are able to share your training plans with us please email nshcs@hee.nhs.uk

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STP induction day: request for trainee chair and trainee volunteers

We will be holding the STP trainee induction 2021 virtually on Wednesday 15th September, between 9:30am to 3:30pm. There will also be time for all our new trainees to network with each other and a number of professional bodies before and after the induction event.

We are looking for existing STP trainees from all specialty areas to help support the event. Here are some of the roles we need:

  • STP Chair: Your role as the STP Chair will be from 9am to 3:30pm. You will help with hosting the event along with the Education Training Manager. You will welcome the new trainees and introduce the event on the day. You will introduce each speaker, help as a volunteer in the round table discussions and lead the question and answer session with new trainees and help host the question and answer sessions with speakers. You will be required to attend the rehearsal on 8th September 2021.
  • Volunteer for round table discussions and question and answer sessions: Your role as a volunteer will be to lead in discussions during the question and answer session part of the day, this will be in small specialty groups with new trainees.

Taking part in STP induction day is an excellent opportunity for you to network and tick off some of your standards for the programme. It is an enjoyable experience and one that will give you a chance to reflect on how far you yourself have come. Sharing your experiences in such an extraordinary time of being in training during the COVID-19 pandemic will be valuable for new trainees, especially sharing those golden nuggets of information that have helped you complete your competencies.

The event is free to attend, it is a fantastic opportunity for you to meet all our new trainees, network with other professional bodies, the universities and the School.

Volunteers will be chosen on a first come first served basis, covering all the specialties. We require approximately 40 volunteers.

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Do you have any advice to share?

We are looking to develop and improve awareness of the support available to trainees during their programmes and to offer guidance to training officers so they know where to turn to offer or seek the appropriate support where it is needed.

We would like to create a number of podcasts with current and former trainees and training officers about their experiences, what worked well, what challenges they faced and how they overcame them. The podcasts will be part of the ongoing development of resources available to trainees and trainers and we feel that your voice will be most powerful in guiding others on the programme in terms of when and how to seek support.

The podcasts will be completely anonymous and managed via informal chat with a member of the School and conducted remotely. We will ensure that the discussion does not make any personal circumstances identifiable but will explore more broadly the key issues experienced and how they were or could be resolved. We will work with you to agree the final product and then will make the podcast available online. We may also use them as an educational resource during our Train the Trainer and induction programmes to further improve awareness of how to support trainees.

The experiences could be broad ranging from:

  • Training planning
  • Training environment
  • Health and wellbeing and pastoral support
  • Managing statutory leave and training e.g. maternity, paternity, adoption or parental leave
  • Professional relationships
  • Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
  • Seeking changes to training e.g. extensions, deferrals, step off, career breaks, transfer, early employment
  • Part-time training

If you think you have an experience that you would like to share and could benefit other trainees or trainers then please do get in touch by emailing us at nshcs@hee.nhs.uk. We would love to hear from you.

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Online learning resources

We’ve gathered together some online resources to help support your training.

Take a look at what’s available for your area.

Click here to view our collection of online learning resources

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Competency evidence resources

We’ve created a collection of good competency resources.

Take a look at the guidance on producing good evidence and examples.

Click here to view our competency evidence resources

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Missed a previous edition of the STP Monthly Memo?

We’ve published copies of the Monthly Memo for STP trainees and training officers on our website.

Click here to view previous editions of the STP Monthly Memo

Last updated on 9th March 2022

This publication is part of STP Monthly Memos (2021)