General Professional Development Research Articles

Context and setting The area of general professionaldevelopment, within the specialist registrar (SpR)curriculum, has been encouraged by Wessex Deaneryand highlighted during the Record of In-TrainingAssessment (RITA) process as an important area forthe ‘new consultant’.We have put together a programme of managementand development sessions, open to all SpRs in Wessex.The Wessex Professional Programme starts with a2.5-day residential course (Monday to Wednesdaymorning), aimed at Year 1 and 2 SpRs. Its contentincludes:• legal and ethical obligations to patients;• risk management and clinical governance;• presentation skills;• personality proﬁling and working with teams(Myers Briggs);• leadership introduction;• making the most of your appraisal, and• self-directed learning and continuing professionaldevelopment.Each course is open to 24 delegates and runs 4times per year.IntheirlastyeartheSpRsattendPart2ofthecourse,which again consists of a 2.5-day residential course(Wednesday evening to Friday). Its content includes:• working with Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) andstructure of the National Health Service (NHS);• writing a funding bid;• leading patient-focused improvement;• outdoor leadership and teambuilding;• preparing your Curriculum Vitae for consultantapplication;• consultant interviews and the practicalities of anew consultant appointment;• educational supervision and appraising juniorstaff;• ‘What trusts want from their consultants’, facili-tated by trust chief executives, and• acting up as a consultant.Why the idea was necessary The SpR curriculum inWessex does not formally integrate the personalprofessional growth and obligations of a new con-sultant into its programme. It was therefore felt that aprogramme dedicated to general professional sub-jects, accessible by all SpRs, was essential, and themanagement course was redeveloped.What was done The course was restructured. For costeffectiveness and ease of administration, the coursewas redesigned to last 1 whole week. This had positivebeneﬁts for those who wanted to attend both partstogether, better rates were negotiated for the resi-dential part of the course and the directors’ timecould be managed more effectively.The content was reviewed and a questionnaire sentto all Year 1 and 2 SpRs in Wessex asking for theirviews. A 60% return rate from a single postingallowed us to adapt the curriculum.Evaluation of results and impact Each course isevaluated by the delegates and feedback is given toevery facilitator within a week of delivery. Evaluationof relevance ranged from a mean of 64% (for asession that has since been changed) to 99% (100%being outstanding). Freehand comments are noted,fed back to the facilitators unedited, and acted upon.The impact of the course is that we have a 1-yearwaiting list and a constant supply of faculty staff whowant to be involved with the programme.In June 2004, 1 delegate commented: ‘I am pleasantlysurprised that this late in my career I have found anear perfect course.’