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MTAS, MDAP, MMC, FY1 - are all these acronyms confusing you?
Then you need our book! The Foundation Programme for Doctors: getting in, getting on and getting out is perfect if you want a jargon free explanation to the foundation programme - what it is, how it works, what all those damn acronyms mean and how you can best navigate it. Written in plain English and focusing only on what's relevant for medical students and junior doctors, it's the most up to date book on the market, including the new career structure for the foundation years and 06/07 MTAS questions! Click the link on the left to buy it from Amazon from the 20th January - the best £16.95 you'll ever spend!
"An invaluable resource for our new generation of doctors. It takes readers through the process from application, to F2 and beyond. It offers useful advice in a useable and readable format. It is written by a group of current and past medical students who have lived through, and continue to live through, the insecurities of the changing medical career structures. Its style is informal, engaging and easy to absorb, so it should be a good distraction for those currently in the run-up to their finals exams."
Professor Jane Dacre,
Academic Vice President
Royal College of Physicians
Latest MTAS news:
- There WILL be enough jobs for all applicants to MTAS this year - 6470 finalists have applied for 6485 positions.
- Foundation school allocations will be announced on the 1st February.
Check back here for the latest news on MTAS, regularly updated.
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Getting confused with all the rumours and Chinese whispers regarding MTAS and MMC? We bring you the news straight from the horse's mouth! Below are a selection of questions sent in by readers and answered by the London Deanery: |
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1) The application process: |
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I hear the new form is very similar to the UCAS personal statement. Now, I know lots of people lie on the form and make up achievements that weren't true just to bolster their application. People are going to do the same on this form aren't they? |
There is always a possibility that people will augment and enhance their achievements in order to make their applications look better. But were medical graduates to do this, their Fitness to Practise would certainly be called into question and applicants who are found behaving in this way may well be referred to the General Medical Council (GMC). Medical graduates should be aware that such behaviour is fraudulent and dishonest and not consistent with professional practice.
Although there is a national application process which will score and rank the applications that are received, the offers that are made as a result are dependent on the trusts, which are the employers, offering the contract of employment. Trusts will undertake certain checks (i.e. police checks, occupational health checks) and also have the right to verify any information submitted on the application form by asking for evidence of what was said. They can withdraw the offer if the applicant has found to be lying in what has been said on the application. |
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Will placing such emphasis on academic ranking really improve on the problems MDAP caused or will it not just mean lots of bunched scores with little to differentiate candidates? |
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It will deal with the problem of hardworking students feeling that their efforts had been wasted because not enough weight was given to their academic achievements, and Heads of Medical Schools saying their best students had not been given high enough scores. |
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It's hard enough to complete a medical degree without having to worry about activities to boost my CV. Would I still be able to construct a strong application form talking about my achievements prior to entering medical school and things I've done in my personal life? |
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There is no doubt that discussing recent achievements in a range of areas would be helpful in presenting your application. This is no different than in applying for any sort of employment. However, it is both what and how you describe your achievements and their significance to you and your future development as a professional and as doctor which will be most relevant. |
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As a student with a family and responsibilities, I really don't think I'll be able to do a weird and wonderful exotic elective like most medics. Will doing a domestic elective harm my application? |
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No – again. It is what you make of your experience which is most important! |
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The GMC says that for educational continuity students should stay in their home foundation school for foundation jobs. Why isn't this principle recognised by the people planning MMC and considered for our FY1 applications? |
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Because the GMC also say that competition for Foundation must be open and fair. |
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EU candidates will be applying for jobs too. How can we be sure that the quartile their medical school says they're in, is accurate? |
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We will ask for confirmation from their medical school dean. |
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| 2) London: |
| Am I guaranteed a job in London? |
If you are accepted to a Thames Foundation School, the aim is to allow all foundation trainees the opportunity to undertake at least one of their 2 years of foundation training in London. This means that if you undertake your first year outside of London, then you will have priority for being allocated a post within London for your second year. The only reservation about this will be if there are more people eligible to come back into London, than there are London posts. If this is the case, then given that all F2 allocations will be competitive, it is possible that some trainees will have to do both years in posts outside of London. |
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People say working outside of London for your first job doesn't harm your career prospects but in reality it does, doesn't it? I mean, if I apply outside of London for F1, I'm not ever going to get back into the capital am I? Ditto, once I'm in London, nobody will expect me to leave will they? |
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About half the people who get into specialty training in London have never worked in London – so to do your further training in London does not require you to do your foundation training in London. You will have ample opportunity to apply and get back in further down the line. Or you may find that you can receive excellent training outside London, and that you would prefer to stay there for longer. |
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Are there any measures in place to ensure more London students get placed in London Deanery foundation schools compared to last year? |
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No. There is no way of doing that while non-London students are keen to come and have higher scores. |
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Is it not the responsibility of the London medical schools and the London Deanery to ensure we have jobs in the Capital? |
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No, unfortunately it is not. |
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Medical Schools in Peninsula and Brighton-Sussex will start producing graduates very soon for hospitals that normally take London graduates. What measures are being taken to ensure enough jobs for Londoners? |
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There will be continue to be enough places in the UK to accommodate all UK graduates and some more besides. |
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3) Special circumstances: |
| I have kids/a mortgage. Surely I am guaranteed the job of my choice? |
| All posts are allocated on a competitive basis. Wherever possible the foundation schools will take into account personal circumstances but since many people have mortgages, and increasingly, families, there can be no guarantees about specific jobs in specific locations. |
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| Me and my partner are both applying for foundation placements this year – I think in a couple of year's time we might get married! Is there any provision to make sure we're working in the same area? |
| There is no specific provision for this, since a lot of medical graduates are in this situation. Obviously however if you both apply for posts in the same area that will improve your chances of being placed in a close geographic location. You will have the chance to say on your application form why you are applying where you are applying – but be flexible and think about where you will have the best chance of success. Its harder if you are “a pair”, but not impossible! |
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| I'm worried that the application form asks us to include the dates we started and finished our degree programme. I failed an exam in the middle of my medical degree and then held up for a year due to course restructuring, so this has added 2 years to the length of my medical degree. Will a longer time to complete my degree count against me when I apply for foundation posts? |
| This information will be taken into account, along with everything else on the form. It is up to you to make the case for being selected on the basis of your achievements and good qualities. |
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| 4) The academic foundation programme: |
| I didn't get a place on the academic foundation programme but academic medicine is my dream. Is it still possible to become an academic without being on the programme and will there be specific support and encouragement for those of us who aspire to academia? |
| Yes, there will be lots of opportunities to enter academic training later on in your medical career, provided you can show you have the intellectual ability, commitment and aptitude for such work. |
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| Next year I'll be applying for a post and I'm considering going for a place on an academic foundation programme but to be honest I'm not 100% convinced I want to do academic medicine. If I do apply and get a place, will it be possible for me to leave the academic field once I finish F1 & F2 and will it reflect badly on me if I do so? |
| That is why the academic foundation programmes were set up: to give people the chance to see if they are cut out for an academic career and if they would like it. |
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| 5) FY2 and beyond: |
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Will there be the possibility that London students who are forced to leave the capital in phase 2 will be given the opportunity to apply back for F2? |
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Anyone in one of the Thames Foundation schools who does their first post outside the London Deanery area and who wishes to return to work inside London will be given priority for London posts in the F2 application process. Those who have been placed in other schools are at liberty to apply for remaining London posts after the match. This year quite a number of F2 posts in London were unfilled, since people who went out in the first year discovered they liked where they were and opted to stay, and others gained approval to complete the programme abroad. |
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| Putting all the hyperbole to one side, at what stage should we have a decent idea of what specialty we'd like to go into? I know you're going to say we don't have to decide for ages but surely our F1/F2 jobs will be taken into account when we go for specialty training? |
| From 2007 entry into specialist training may commence immediately after Foundation Training. In some specialties there will be a general basic specialist training first, but even so, you may have to select your destination specialty to get in. It is important that you plan your career during Foundation. One of the features of Foundation Training is access to career advice and counselling. If it isn't offered, ask for it. Try to organise a taster week in a specialty you are considering, if you aren't sure. People who did the F2 pilots said they really enjoyed these and it helped them make up their mind. Don't worry about whether the jobs you did in Foundation will influence whether you are selected, because everyone has agreed they won't. |
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