The training plan tells us how you plan to deliver training over the three years. We need to see that the training plan is properly prepared so that the trainee understands the programme, and what needs to be achieved and how this will be done.
There is not a ‘one size’ fits all when it comes to training plans. Everyone will want to plan the training differently, adhering to the curriculum. You can also take a look at our guidance on good training planning for STP trainees.
For accreditation purposes, the key details that your training plan should include are:
- that you have training in place to deliver the specialty curriculum including a plan for the rotations demonstrating when and where the trainee will be going and who will be responsible for them prior to the trainee starting
- the roles and responsibilities of the various individuals responsible for delivering the training
- time for 1:2:1 progress review meetings and feedback to STP trainees
- the university component – attendance and assessments
- 20% protected time allocated for the duration of the training programme
- time for the online portfolio and the workplace assessments
- public and patient involvement opportunities
- the end-point assessment for the programme
Elements of public and patient involvement are set by the curriculum and should be included in training. Each module has a number of defined clinical experiences that training centres should be providing for trainees, they include many of activities with patients and service users.
We would normally expect to see a plan for STP trainees detailing the sort of contact they could have with patients and the public outside the day-to-day clinical setting. The aim would be for the trainee to understand the whole patient experience and to be able to explain to patients how clinical science contributes to their treatment.
The sort of activities we would envisage here are:
- talks to disease-specific patient and carer groups
- STEM ambassador activities
- participation in ward rounds
- clinics
- visits to primary care
The report ‘Pathways to Embed Patient and Public Involvement in Healthcare Scientist Training Programmes’, which was developed in collaboration with a variety of stakeholders, is useful for how we can support, develop and embed PPI into STP training in the workplace. Some information such as references to OLAT and learning guides are out of date, so please visit the Curriculum Library for what is required.
It is your responsibility, not the trainee’s, to arrange the rotations, and they should all be firmly arranged before the trainee starts, with dates, supervision arrangements, contact details and an indication of the learning that will be delivered.
For the physiological sciences, pay particular attention to the rotation ‘Clinical Assessment and Investigation‘. It involves a lot of people and needs careful planning.
Your plan needs to be flexible so that it can be adapted, it should show how you plan to deliver the programme over the 3 years, we should see how the specialist training will be delivered, show how the key learning outcomes will be met, and who will deliver it and assess it? The training plan should include milestones to allow you to evaluate progress, this means ensuring progress review meetings are factored into the plan and in the diaries of the both the training officer and trainee. This can be done virtually and with social distancing measures and all other departmental guidelines.
The arrangements for supervision of a master’s level research project. You won’t know all the details in advance. Supervision arrangements will depend on the choice of research topic, but we need to be assured that you will be able to find a suitably qualified and experienced research supervisor.
The training plan is the document we most frequently question in an application, if the detail we require is not there, we will ask you to develop the plan further before we can confirm accreditation. It is worth giving it careful attention to make the process as short as possible.