ST1/ST2 in Core Medical Training and Acute Care Common Stem

Enrolment

If you have appointed to a Core Medical Training post or an Acute Care Common Stem post in Acute Medicine you will need to enrol with the JRCPTB. Please visit the Enrolment pages for full details.

Core Medical Training (CMT)

This relates to trainees in the first common period of Specialty Training between Selection out of Foundation Training Year 2 and Selection into ST3. It is a generic spread of the discipline of medicine and the first step in specialty training. 

CMT programmes are designed to deliver core training in General Internal Medicine (GIM) and Acute Internal Medicine (AIM) by acquisition of knowledge and skills as assessed by the workplace-based assessments (WPBA) and the MRCP(UK).  Programmes are usually for two years and are broad based consisting of four to six placements in medical specialties. These placements over the two years must include direct involvement in the acute medical take. Trainees completing core training will have a solid platform of GIM and AIM from which they can continue into Specialty Training.

Completion of CMT and acquisition of the full MRCP(UK) Diploma are required in order to enter specialty training at ST3.

The features of the CMT programme are: 

Trainee led - The ePortfolio is designed to encourage a learner centred approach with the support of Educational Supervisors. The ePortfolio contains tools to identify educational needs, enables the setting of learning goals, reflective learning and personal development.

Competency based - The curricula outline competences that trainees must reach by the end of the programme. The curriculum is directly linked to the ePortfolio as it defines standards required for good medical practice and formal assessments including the MRCP(UK) for CMT.

Continuation of Good Medical practice - Building on Foundation training the curriculum contains important emphasis on generic competences necessary for practice as a physician. 

Supervision - Each trainee has a series of people with clearly defined roles and responsibilities overseeing their training including Clinical Supervisor, Educational Supervisor, College Tutor, CMT Programme Director, and Head of School. 

Appraisal meetings with Supervisor - Regular appraisal meetings and review of competence progression are set out in the ePortfolio. 

Workplace-based assessments - Regular workplace-based assessments are conducted throughout training building on those used in the Foundation programme with annual an ARCP. These include the Acute Care Assessment Tool (ACAT), Case Based Discussion (CbD), mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise (mini-CEX) and multisource feedback (MSF) with additional new assessment methods to assess Audit (AA) and Teaching (TO). 

MRCP(UK) examination - The various parts of the MRCP(UK) have been mapped to the curriculum for CMT and this provides a knowledge base assessment for both CMT.  

Entrants to specialist training in General Internal Medicine or Acute Internal Medicine must have successfully completed Core Medical Training or Acute Care Common Stem training.   

Curricula & Assessment

2009 CMT curriculum

The new curriculum for CMT, embedded in the 2009 General Internal Medicine curriculum (GIM) and Acute Internal Medicine curriculum (AIM), was reviewed and rewritten in August 2009 to:  

• Meet the GMC's 6 new standards as detailed in their Standards for Curricula and Assessment systems
• Keep up to date with medical advances and changes in the service and training
• Incorporate the framework documents produced by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) detailing Common, Medical Leadership and Health inequality competencies
• Include 5 new assessment methods (Acute Care Assessment Tool, Case based Discussion, Patient Survey, Teaching Observation and Audit Assessment).

This curriculum became the training manual for all trainees entering ST3 from August 2009. 

CMT curriculum and ARCP decision aids

The approved curriculum for CMT is a sub-set of the curriculum for GIM and AIM. A "Framework for CMT" has been created for the convenience of trainees, supervisors, tutors and programme directors. The body of the curriclum document has been extracted from the approved curriculum but only includes the syllabus requirements for CMT and not the further requirements for acquiring a CCT in GIM or AIM.

If you have any queries or problems regarding the 2009 curriculum please email ptb@jrcptb.org.uk.

Acute Care Common Stem (ACCS)

This is parallel training with Core Medical Training and will give you a combined insight into the four areas of Acute Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Anaesthetics and Intensive Care Medicine.  The Acute Care Common Stem curriculum can be downloaded from the ACCS website.

ACCS home page

Please note: To specialise in Emergency Medicine at ST3 level, it is compulsory that ACCS ST1 and ST2 is completed. 

Fixed-term specialist training appointments (FTSTAs)

It is anticipated that FTSTA posts will be appointed for one year at a time.

You can continue to compete for entry to run-through at the appropriate level from your FTSTA when appropriate opportunities arise.