Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine

The specialty of Infectious Diseases, although small in comparison to the system based specialties, provides the opportunity of a career ranging from challenging and constantly varied clinical management to intellectually stimulating frontier research into diseases of worldwide importance. The specialty has encompassed the requirements of a clearly objective based training curriculum and offers training programmes ranging from pure Infectious Diseases to combined training in Infectious disease and General medicine, Infectious disease and Medical microbiology, and Infectious disease, Tropical medicine and General medicine.

The essential (generic) training tracks in the curriculum are designed to train to competency in:

• Community acquired infection and its management
• Geographical medicine
• The management of immunocompromised patients including HIV/AIDS
• Antimicrobial therapy
• The management of Hospital acquired infection including Infection in the Intensive / High dependency setting
• The understanding of the role of Microbiology in the management of infection
• Research methodology and its application to clinical practice
• A variety of optional subjects such as virology, clinical pharmacology, public health, epidemiology vaccinology and overseas practice

The challenge to rationalise antibiotic use in the light of increasing microbial resistance, to combat clinical problems of healthcare acquired infection and worldwide pandemics of HIV, hepatitis and malaria and to respond to emerging infection problems such as SARS makes Infectious diseases an exciting and contemporary specialty.

Important Note

It has come to our notice that we have received a number of applications of SpRs that are trying to enrol in Tropical Medicine having been assured that training in a centre was available and approved.

At the present time there are only four approved Tropical Medicine training centres:

• Department of Infection & Tropical Medicine, Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, Middlesex
• Tropical & Infectious Disease Unit, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool
• Department of Infection & Tropical Medicine, Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham
• The Hospital for Tropical Diseases, London

Therefore only SpRs from these centres should be able to apply for and obtain a CCT in Tropical Medicine.

Trainees should question the validity of any other centre offering the 12 months UK based training in Tropical Medicine.

Further details of training curricula or regional specialty advisors can be obtained from:
Stacey Prica (JCHMT), Dr WTA Todd (SAC Chairman) or Dr ARO Miller (SAC Secretary)

Due to regular revisions, arising from changes in the training environment and the requirements of the PMETB, the JRCPTB are currently running various curricula for trainees in each specialty.  All relevant curricula are listed at the bottom of this page under Documents.  Use the filter option on the right-hand side, together with the guidance notes below,  to help you select the correct document.  In summary:

• If you are a run-through (Specialty Registrar [StR]) trainee, you will follow the curricula tagged as ST3+

• If you are an ‘old style’ SpR, you are following the curricula tagged as SpR

• If you enrolled prior to 01/01/03, you will be following the original curricula which are no longer available for download, see note below

Competence Based Curricula and Assessment – StRs

PMETB has received the assessment system (blueprint and RITA/ARCP grid) for Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine and this has been approved.  

The assessment blueprints show the possible methods that can be used to assess each of the competences in the curriculum. Trainees and trainers should refer to the blueprints for guidance on the appropriate assessment methods for each aspect of the curriculum, and so plan the training programme according to the criteria set by the RITA Decision Aid. It is not expected that all competences will be assessed by all methods, rather that there will be a sampling of competences within a variety of settings, both within formal and workplace-based assessment, from which overall competence acquisition has to be determined.

 Acute care common stem (Medicine) trainees will also follow the ACCS training manual.

Competence Based Curricula – SpR (for trainees enrolling after 1 Jan 2003)

The JCHMT introduced revised curricula for all the medical specialties together with a generic curriculum that applied to all trainees back in 2003. These are competence-based and set out the knowledge, skills and attitudes to be acquired by trainees before they may be awarded a CCT.

Curricula (for trainees enrolling before 1 Jan 2003)