Abstract
This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. The Foundation Programme (FP) is a two-year period where medical graduates are able to learn in the workplace in the United Kingdom. The Foundation Programme Curriculum (FPC) is designed to imbue trainees with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to be able to enter into speciality training. The reasons for the introduction of the FP and its curriculum will be discussed. Additionally, curricular aims and models pertaining to the curriculum of the FP will be discussed as will the relevance of the hidden curriculum to the FPC. The assessment strategies and quality assurance methods relating to the FPC will be also be discussed. The author has been a recent FP trainee and uses education theory in his assessment of its curriculum. In this personal critical analysis, I aim to review the curriculum of the FP in order to determine if it is an appropriate vehicle to transmit the necessary knowledge, skills and attributes for trainees to enter the next stage of their training.
Highlights
This technique is described in the literature as an effective tool to reach a consensus on the competencies required for a curriculum. This technique avoids tensions that can occur with face-face meetings by collaborating electronically using forms and questionnaires. This appears to be an effective way of avoiding tensions that can occur with physical meetings to decide content for curricula, the Foundation Programme Curriculum (FPC) does not explicitly state the method used to reach a consensus on which competencies to include
The FPC was devised in response to a need to improve postgraduate medical education
Policy that was produced by the Department of Health recommended a two-year rotational programme with a spiral curriculum extending through both of these years as a way to streamline the early part of postgraduate medical education
Summary
The emphasis on key GMC domains by the FPC early in a doctor’s postgraduate medical education journey may improve the professionalism of trainees to a sufficient level for them to enter further training and may have been as a reaction to maintain the trust needed between all doctors and their patients. Through validated and reliable assessment methods, in both medical school and in the FP, poor quality care may be challenged and remediation required in order to progress to the stage of training.
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