The Foundation Training Programme
Foundation Training comprises the first two years of work-based training for recently qualified doctors and meets standards prescribed by the General Medical Council (GMC).
The first year of Foundation Training augments the skills, knowledge and abilities that were acquired by junior doctors as undergraduates, concentrating on generic skills in areas such as patient safety, equality and diversity, and certain core clinical and procedural skills. After the successful completion of this first year of Foundation Training, doctors are able to obtain full registration with the GMC.
The second year of Foundation Training builds on this learning further, concentrating on the care of acutely ill patients and relevant clinical and procedural skills. It also incorporates transferable professional skills such as time management, teamwork and followership, communication and information technology skills.
We ensure that all Foundation Doctors receive an appropriate mix of training and experience to fulfil the foundation curriculum, which contains over 125 requirements and includes clinical and procedural skills.
These skills include:
• Airway care
• Arterial puncture
• Blood culture from peripheral sites
• Intravenous infusions
• IV cannulation
• Performing and interpreting an ECG or peak flow
• Urethral catheterisation
• Venepuncture
Foundation Training at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
As an AHSC, we provide Foundation Training which meets the GMC’s requirements while also scheduling training time dedicated to simulation-based learning. This allows foundation trainees at the Trust’s hospitals to develop their clinical, communication and team-working skills in a controlled and low-risk environment without compromising patient safety.
Foundation trainees at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust will enjoy working at one of the UK’s first academic health science centres (AHSCs), within one of five hospitals in the North West London sector: St Mary’s Hospital, Western Eye Hospital, Hammersmith Hospital, Queen Charlotte’s and Chelsea Hospital, and Charing Cross Hospital.
Foundation Training is varied and consists of a number of rotations in a broad range of specialties, all overseen by an allocated educational supervisor. A comprehensive induction programme is provided by the Trust’s postgraduate medical education centres, which is then augmented with a thorough departmental induction at the onset of each rotation.
The UK Foundation Programme Office (UKFPO) can provide information for foreign nationals who wish to participate in the Foundation Training Programme for recently qualified doctors.
The London Deanery maintains the Synapse website which is the communications network for postgraduate medical training in London. It can be accessed on: www.synapse.nhs.uk.
Young people aged 16 to 18 years who wish to enquire about a work experience placement at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust can contact the Trust’s work experience coordinator.