Foundation School Terminology
Sometimes, all the abbreviations and technical terminology can get a bit too much. Here is our guide to what the Foundation Schools are talking about.
Application Score
This is the score which has been calculated from your academic ranking and the points which you have gained from the Situational Judgment Test, which is due to replace the white space question format. To find out more about the changes in the application system, look here.
Competition Ratio
The ratio of candidates applying to each Foundation School as their first preference against the number of F1 posts available at that Foundation School.
Deanery
The Deanery are responsible for the administration of postgraduate medical education.
DGH
This is a District General Hospital.
Foundation Trust
These are the result of decentralisation of public services, from the government to local management, thereby giving them freedom to make decisions based on local needs.
Foundation Year 1
This is your first year of being a junior doctor after qualification from medical school. Generally, the Foundation Year 1 consists of three four-month placements (or rotations) in different specialties. In these placements, as a F1 / FY1 (Foundation Year 1) doctor, you are provisionally registered with the GMC and in this year you are expected to build on your undergraduate knowledge and skills. Additionally, for each placement you will need to meet the learning outcomes described by the GMC’s Foundation Programme Curriculum (found here) through formal teaching, learning on the wards and assessments. By the end of the year, you must be able to demonstrate that you are capable of taking on the role of a fully GMC-registered doctor and that you are ready to begin specialist training.
Foundation Year 2
In Foundation Year 2, you are fully registered and licensed with the GMC. You must continue to take on responsibilities for the patients that you care for, however you still have clinical supervision. The focus for F2 / FY2 doctors is to become capable of assessing and managing the acutely ill patient, but you will also receive training in skills such as teamwork, time management, communication and IT skills.
FPAS
The online Foundation Programme Application System: this is a centralised system which all applicants must use to apply to UK foundation schools.
GMC QAFP
The GMC’s Quality Assurance of Foundation Programme: a report produced by the GMC which comments on the quality of the foundation programme within a specific deanery.
Linked Application
You can link your application with one other person, such as a partner, sibling or friend, so that you are both allocated to the same Foundation School. It is not guaranteed, however, that you will both be placed in the same programme, organisation or town. Some Foundation Schools try to place linked applicants within an hour’s commute of each other. For more information, see page 7 of the Foundation Programme 2013 Applicants’ Handbook, found here.
LTFT Training
Less Than Full Time Training. This functions as the title suggests; the training is structured to allow those who cannot commit to full-time training to have a more flexible timetable. There are eligibility criteria.
Matching to F2 Programme
When an applicant is accepted by a foundation school, they must rank the available jobs according to their preference. In some foundation schools, you will be choosing your preferences for F1 and F2 at the same time. In others, you will only be asked to rank F1 jobs after your successful application; during your F1 year you are asked to undergo a similar process and rank F2 jobs. There are pros and cons to both: some people like to know where they will be for their two Foundation years from the outset; others aren't sure what specialties they'd like to cover during F2, and would prefer to delay the choice of their F2 job until they have started their F1 work.
Post
This really equates to the job you are offered on the Foundation Programme.
National Training Survey
The GMC surveys trainees and trainers. Trainees are questioned specifically to see how they perceive the quality of training they receive, including training for specialties. Trainers are questioned on the support and structure put in place for their duties as trainers, and how they feel they are performing in the role.
Rotation
The rotations are what make up the Foundation years, so that you spend time in different departments and healthcare settings.
Shadowing and Induction
This is now a compulsory, paid period of time prior to beginning the Foundation Programme where the new F1 doctor shadows the outgoing F1 doctor. Also during this time you will probably have an induction into the NHS and the hospital you are working at.
Slot-sharing
This is an option for LTFT training. Effectively two foundation doctors split one full-time job. This means that it will take longer to complete Foundation training, as the equivalent of two full-time years' training must be undertaken.
Supernumerary Post
These posts exist for LTFT trainees who can neither slot-share nor work reduced hours.
Swap shop
This is a facility which allows F2 trainees to swap their posts before they begin in the August of that year.
Taster
Tasters are short periods of experience in a particular specialty. They usually last 2-5 days and are undertaken in a specialty that has not been part of the trainee's F1 or F2 programme. For example, if a trainee was interested in pursuing a career in Haematology, but had had no Haematology rotation as part of their F1 or F2 programmes, they might apply for a 3 day Taster in Haematology. Every trainee is entitled to Tasters in F2; some schools allow trainees to undertake Tasters at the end of F1 too.
UKFPO
The UK Foundation Programme Office, which coordinates the employment of medical school graduates into the Foundation Programme.
Unit of Application
Some foundation schools may join together to make a Unit of Application. In this case, you do not apply directly to the foundation schools. Instead you apply to the Unit of Application, and if you are allocated the Unit, only then do you rank the schools within that Unit.
This is the score which has been calculated from your academic ranking and the points which you have gained from the Situational Judgment Test, which is due to replace the white space question format. To find out more about the changes in the application system, look here.
Competition Ratio
The ratio of candidates applying to each Foundation School as their first preference against the number of F1 posts available at that Foundation School.
Deanery
The Deanery are responsible for the administration of postgraduate medical education.
DGH
This is a District General Hospital.
Foundation Trust
These are the result of decentralisation of public services, from the government to local management, thereby giving them freedom to make decisions based on local needs.
Foundation Year 1
This is your first year of being a junior doctor after qualification from medical school. Generally, the Foundation Year 1 consists of three four-month placements (or rotations) in different specialties. In these placements, as a F1 / FY1 (Foundation Year 1) doctor, you are provisionally registered with the GMC and in this year you are expected to build on your undergraduate knowledge and skills. Additionally, for each placement you will need to meet the learning outcomes described by the GMC’s Foundation Programme Curriculum (found here) through formal teaching, learning on the wards and assessments. By the end of the year, you must be able to demonstrate that you are capable of taking on the role of a fully GMC-registered doctor and that you are ready to begin specialist training.
Foundation Year 2
In Foundation Year 2, you are fully registered and licensed with the GMC. You must continue to take on responsibilities for the patients that you care for, however you still have clinical supervision. The focus for F2 / FY2 doctors is to become capable of assessing and managing the acutely ill patient, but you will also receive training in skills such as teamwork, time management, communication and IT skills.
FPAS
The online Foundation Programme Application System: this is a centralised system which all applicants must use to apply to UK foundation schools.
GMC QAFP
The GMC’s Quality Assurance of Foundation Programme: a report produced by the GMC which comments on the quality of the foundation programme within a specific deanery.
Linked Application
You can link your application with one other person, such as a partner, sibling or friend, so that you are both allocated to the same Foundation School. It is not guaranteed, however, that you will both be placed in the same programme, organisation or town. Some Foundation Schools try to place linked applicants within an hour’s commute of each other. For more information, see page 7 of the Foundation Programme 2013 Applicants’ Handbook, found here.
LTFT Training
Less Than Full Time Training. This functions as the title suggests; the training is structured to allow those who cannot commit to full-time training to have a more flexible timetable. There are eligibility criteria.
Matching to F2 Programme
When an applicant is accepted by a foundation school, they must rank the available jobs according to their preference. In some foundation schools, you will be choosing your preferences for F1 and F2 at the same time. In others, you will only be asked to rank F1 jobs after your successful application; during your F1 year you are asked to undergo a similar process and rank F2 jobs. There are pros and cons to both: some people like to know where they will be for their two Foundation years from the outset; others aren't sure what specialties they'd like to cover during F2, and would prefer to delay the choice of their F2 job until they have started their F1 work.
Post
This really equates to the job you are offered on the Foundation Programme.
National Training Survey
The GMC surveys trainees and trainers. Trainees are questioned specifically to see how they perceive the quality of training they receive, including training for specialties. Trainers are questioned on the support and structure put in place for their duties as trainers, and how they feel they are performing in the role.
Rotation
The rotations are what make up the Foundation years, so that you spend time in different departments and healthcare settings.
Shadowing and Induction
This is now a compulsory, paid period of time prior to beginning the Foundation Programme where the new F1 doctor shadows the outgoing F1 doctor. Also during this time you will probably have an induction into the NHS and the hospital you are working at.
Slot-sharing
This is an option for LTFT training. Effectively two foundation doctors split one full-time job. This means that it will take longer to complete Foundation training, as the equivalent of two full-time years' training must be undertaken.
Supernumerary Post
These posts exist for LTFT trainees who can neither slot-share nor work reduced hours.
Swap shop
This is a facility which allows F2 trainees to swap their posts before they begin in the August of that year.
Taster
Tasters are short periods of experience in a particular specialty. They usually last 2-5 days and are undertaken in a specialty that has not been part of the trainee's F1 or F2 programme. For example, if a trainee was interested in pursuing a career in Haematology, but had had no Haematology rotation as part of their F1 or F2 programmes, they might apply for a 3 day Taster in Haematology. Every trainee is entitled to Tasters in F2; some schools allow trainees to undertake Tasters at the end of F1 too.
UKFPO
The UK Foundation Programme Office, which coordinates the employment of medical school graduates into the Foundation Programme.
Unit of Application
Some foundation schools may join together to make a Unit of Application. In this case, you do not apply directly to the foundation schools. Instead you apply to the Unit of Application, and if you are allocated the Unit, only then do you rank the schools within that Unit.