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New Surgical Curriculum
The four Royal Surgical Colleges and all nine surgical specialist associations, through the Specialist Advisory Committees, are collaborating to develop a modern, seamless and flexible model for higher surgical training. The JCST Intercollegiate Curriculum Development Project aims to take account of the conflicting demands of the European Directive on shorter working hours and public expectations for a better quality of service.
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The four Royal Surgical Colleges and all nine surgical specialist associations, through the Specialist Advisory Committees, are collaborating to develop a modern, seamless and flexible model for higher surgical training. The JCST Intercollegiate Curriculum Development Project aims to take account of the conflicting demands of the European Directive on shorter working hours and public expectations for a better quality of service.
A unified surgical curriculum framework is being designed which is underpinned by robust standards, clearly defined 'way-points' in the development of competent practice, and a specification of common generic as well as specialty-specific skills for each of the specialties. The goal is to deliver planned, high quality, competence-based training, that will be assessed by fair and unbiased testing, and which will be fully quality assured.
The proposed curriculum model is:
- service-led - providing surgeons fit-for-purpose to work within the NHS
- modular - permitting trainees to be accredited to provide
specific services/skills at particular levels, and not merely at the
end of training
- flexible - allowing surgeons to change career paths and to take time out for family commitments, without penalty
- modern - representing a significant shift from established
surgical thinking to dovetail with new proposals for SHO grade/seamless
training in the Department of Health's documents Unfinished Business
and Modernising Medical Careers
While the framework has been adopted in principle, a great deal of work is required to:
- provide essential faculty development for trainers, assessors and programme directors
- to pilot the various modules to fit within the overall framework
- to make the leap from the curriculum plan as a written directive
to changed and improved training practice within the workplace.
The initial funding for the project has been provided through a £513,000 grant from the Department of Health over an 18-month period. This will be matched by contributions in kind from the surgical Colleges and Associations.
The participants in the project are:
- Department of Health
- Joint Committee on Surgical Training
- Joint Committee on Intercollegiate Examinations
- Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
- Royal College of Surgeons of England
- Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Glasgow
- Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
- Association of Surgeons of Great Britain & Ireland
- Association of Surgeons in Training
- British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
- British Association of Otorhinolaryngologists Head and Neck Surgeons
- British Association of Paediatric Surgeons
- British Association of Plastic Surgeons
- British Association of Urological Surgeons
- British Orthopaedic Association
- British Orthopaedic Trainees Association
- Society of British Neurological Surgeons
- Society of Cardiothoracic Surgeons of Great Britain & Ireland
