Message from the Head of School
Professor Berne Ferry
Hi Everyone,
I hope no one minds me hijacking this Monthly Memo for the last time to bid farewell to you all. I will be leaving the School and NHSE at the end of May and I am so grateful of the opportunity to be able to express just a little of the immense sense of gratidute I have to science and to healthcare scientists in particular.
I want to say thank you to:
The Trainers, (including lead station writers, examiners, interviewers, and all of you who take on the multiple and varied roles involved in educating the healthcare scientists of the future: there will be supervisors, mentors, and countless work colleagues amongst this group).
Thank you for staying and working in the NHS, for your time, dedication, and skills, for your experience and faith in what you do and for your clear faith in your work and the idea of the NHS. You are amazing, a brilliant bunch of people who happen to be scientists and who have chosen to utilise your knowledge and expertise for the good of the health of people. It is a privilege to be one of you and to have worked with you. Thank you.
The Trainees, (including HCS apprentices, PTP students, STP, ETP, HSST, ASP and anyone whom I’ve forgotten to mention).
Thank you for choosing the NHS to hone your scientific skills and for taking the first step to become one of the most important people in any hospital: a healthcare scientist. You are all extraordinary! You work so hard and are not only tackling a difficult and nationally recognised impressive academic and clinical programme, but you are also navigating your way through a curriculum that involves a university, the NSHCS and an everyday work life in busy and challenging NHS Trust departments. It has been an honour to have led the School for so many years and wonderful to have been able to watch you guys grow and embrace the tasks and challenges in your new NHS roles.
The University, School, HEE, NHSE, AHCS and so many other colleagues.
Thank all of you for being such great and collaborative colleagues, for your enthusiasm, knowledge and enterprise and for your constant and never-ending innovation. It has been a pleasure to have worked with all of you.
Thank you to all of you for being part of the journey. Good luck in the future. It’ll be fascinating to watch where it goes and by what path it gets there. I wish each of you every success and happiness going forward
Best wishes
Berne
Information for year three trainees
Key dates for STP 2023 final assessment
Here are the key dates and deadlines concerning this year’s summer IACC:
- Applications for reasonable adjustments deadline – Noon on Friday 2 June
- Critical reflective narrative deadline – Noon on Tuesday 13 June
- Interview window – 3 to 14 July
- Reasonable adjustments deadline – Noon on Friday 2 June
- Results – Week commencing Monday 7 August
- Appeals – Week commencing Monday 28 August
Click here to find the key dates for STP 2023 final assessment.
Information and guidance for STP trainees completing the programme in 2023
In our STP Completion 2023 information and guidance section on the School website:
- General guidance for trainees and training departments
- Required rotations per specialty
- Routes to completion of the OneFile e-portfolio
- Drop-in support webinar recordings
- Podcasts for trainees and training officers
- Guidance for training officers on providing a declaration of competence
- STP Completion dates
- A summary of key changes to completion following COVID-19 pandemic
Click here to find the information and guidance for STP trainees completing the programme in 2023.
Information for all trainees
Guidance for trainees on reflective practice
We have developed guidance for trainees and training officers on reflective practice, specifically to support the rotational modules of the new curricula.
It includes specific guidance for trainees to make the most of their observations during rotations as well as questions to support trainees with their reflections. These questions provide a framework to support the trainer in assessing these competencies.
This guidance includes suggestions from trainers who attended the reflective practice workshop at the National School of Healthcare Science Collaborative event on 27 March 2023. The resources from this workshop can be found on the Learning Hub.
Click here to find the guidance for trainees on reflective practice
Opportunity to support STP Induction Day 2023
We are looking for trainee volunteers to represent the STP during our induction day. The event will take place on Friday 8th September at the ICC in central Birmingham.
The roles are:
Host
We are looking for a couple of trainees to take on the role of host during the day. Hosts will be responsible for introducing the sessions and the guest speakers.
Panel chair
During the day we are planning several panel sessions with trainee and alumni guest speakers. We are looking for a panel chair to field questions from the audience and keep the sessions progressing.
Panel member
We are hosting a session with a panel of trainees and former trainees. We are looking for panel members to provide advice to new trainees and answer questions from the audience.
Trainee network representative
We are looking for a trainee to represent each network at the networking stands. As a trainee network representative you will be available to answer questions about your trainee network and how new trainees can get involved.
University trainee representative
We are looking for a trainee to represent each university at the networking stands. As a university trainee representative you will be available to answer questions about studying at the university and share any advice or tips for the new trainees that will be attending this year.
This is a fantastic opportunity for trainees to develop their public speaking skills and support the new intake starting in September. Lunch and refreshments will be provided and your travel expenses will be covered by the School.
If you would like to volunteer for a role at induction this year please email us at nshcs.events@hee.nhs.uk with the role title you’d like to volunteer for and why you are well suited to the role.
Inspiring the younger generation to consider a career in the NHS
To help mark its 75th anniversary, the NHS has teamed up with Inspiring the Future to inspire children to consider a career in the Service. The NHS Ambassadors programme connects NHS staff with schools. By talking about their job, NHS staff will help to illustrate the connection between what students are studying in the classroom and the potential opportunities available in the NHS, recognising that the Service has over 350 different careers on offer.
The initiative is looking for NHS staff, from all levels and professions to register and commit to a minimum of an hour a year to go into schools and colleges – in person or virtually. It’s easy to sign up and by doing so you’ll be helping to inspire the NHS workforce of the future.
Click here to sign up to become an NHS ambassador
Feature length podcasts for haematologists
These podcasts are an educational resource delivering up to date knowledge on a broad range of haematology topics that we hope will be useful for the continuous professional development of all haematologists.
Click here to find the Blooducation podcasts
Information for training officers
New training for trainers package
Earlier this month we contacted all trainers in the workplace to announce the launch of our new package of training for trainers. This new package has been developed after extensive feedback from trainers working in all our of programmes.
The new training offer will include a suite of guidance and learning resources and will provide additional support for trainers working with the new STP curricula.
Trainer standards
We have developed a set of standards and expectations for the role of the STP work-based trainer. The standards do not add new expectations or responsibilities to the trainer role. Instead, they are designed to articulate existing expectations more concisely – enabling a structure for the additional training and guidance that we are developing.
Train the Trainer
We will be revising the School’s Train the Trainer programme. Professionals new to the role of STP trainer will be given a single webinar induction which will introduce them to the programme and their responsibilities. We anticipate that the first trainer induction will take place in September 2023.
In the meantime, anyone needing to undertake STP Train the Trainer for accreditation purposes can still access and be certificated for the 3-webinar series from October 2022.
Learning resources on the Learning Hub
In the coming months an extensive suite of new learning resources will be made available for trainers to access via The Learning Hub, whether you are new to the role or an experienced trainer and regardless of which programme you work on.
Click here to read the full statement announcing our new package of training for trainers
Summary from Healthcare Science Education and Training Collaborative Meeting
On Monday 27 March we held our first face-to-face healthcare science education and training collaborative meeting. On our website you will find copies of the presentations made at the Healthcare Science Education and Training Collaborative meeting and summaries from the roundtable sessions and workshops.
Click here to view updates from this collaborative meeting on Monday 27 March
Reflective practice update
The resources from the workshop ‘supporting your trainee with reflective practice’, delivered at the collaborative event held on Monday 27 March, can be found on the Learning Hub including a resource to support you in assessing reflective practice.
To find the resources simply click on ‘Reflective Practice in Healthcare Science’ folder and then click on the sub-folder ‘Trainers: Supporting your trainee with reflective practice’, then in the directory ‘Workshop resources from collaborative 27 March 2023’.
Click here to find instructions on how to sign up for the Learning Hub
Reflective practice workshops
We will be running our reflective practice workshop for trainers as a webinar twice in May, on the following dates:
- Wednesday 10 May 10:00am to 12:00pm
- Thursday 18 May 4:00pm to 6:00pm
The key objective of this webinar is to develop a framework to aid you in assessing reflective practice in the workplace. We will explore what reflective practice is and strategies to enable you to support your trainee in being reflective. The webinar will be recorded and made available on the Learning Hub.
Click here to register for the Wednesday 10 May webinar (expired link)
Click here to register for the Thursday 18 May webinar (expired link)
Planning for the new curriculum: drop-in sessions
We are hosting more drop-in sessions for anyone who will be involved in hosting a trainee on the new STP curriculum from September 2022.
The drop-in sessions will be an open Q&A forum. Our next sessions are:
- Thursday 27 April 12pm to 1pm
- Thursday 25 May 12pm to 1pm
- Thursday 29 June 12pm to 1pm
- Thursday 27 July 12pm to 1pm
Click here to find the drop-in session joining links.
Managing your trainees
We have created a section on our website providing answers about issues ranging from study leave to funding.
This month’s featured FAQ is:
Q – My trainee has 1 day per week allocated to study time, should this be increased when exams or assignments are due?
A – The School recommends a flexible approach to study time, with 20% overall as the recommended minimum level. There is a benefit from more study time at pressured academic periods eg before an exam, but when the academic workload is less study days may be reduced to prioritise work based training (equally important!). This is best agreed between trainee and training officer, and we encourage a collaborative approach to building a training plan that reflects this, with academic assignment dates and exams noted, and the dates for the final exit assessment, maintaining some flexibility to allow for unexpected challenges or opportunities.
Click here to find FAQs on management of trainees for STP trainers.
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.