Intended for healthcare professionals

Careers

Allowing time for learning and for teaching

BMJ 2014; 348 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g2595 (Published 07 April 2014) Cite this as: BMJ 2014;348:g2595
  1. Tom Moberly, editor, BMJ Careers
  1. tmoberly{at}bmj.com

Core medical trainees are receiving a raw deal, a report released this month warns.

The Royal College of Physicians and the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board surveyed junior doctors undertaking the core medical training programme. They found that trainees were often too busy providing services to undertake training and were not receiving enough feedback from senior colleagues.

The two organisations call for “urgent” changes to the current programme. “Considerable changes to the ways wards are staffed are needed to allow appropriate training of the future medical workforce,” they say.

As Abi Rimmer reports (http://careers.bmj.com/careers/advice/view-article.html?id=20017023), the survey found that trainees often had so many commitments on the ward that they were unable to attend teaching sessions or sessions that might allow learning opportunities, such as outpatient clinics. The report of the findings acknowledges that service provision can teach valuable lessons. But, it says, it is important that “time to train and to receive feedback is available and learning opportunities are not lost.”

As well as allowing time for trainees to train, employers also need to ensure that supervising consultants have enough time available to teach trainees, as the BMA has highlighted in its response to the survey results. Many consultants are working under contracts that don’t allow enough time for supporting professional activities, and these contracts will need to change if the health service is to develop the doctors it needs for the future.

Negotiations over the consultant and junior doctor contracts are already under way, with more detail expected in the coming months on how these agreements might change doctors’ terms and conditions. One crucial outcome of these negotiations—for doctors, employers, and, ultimately, patients—will be ensuring that doctors’ contracts allow time for trainees to learn and consultants to teach.