The Academic Foundation Programme

1. The Academic Foundation Programme Dr JKA Mills Academic Foundation Programme Career Lead Spring 2013

2. Purpose • These slides are designed to help inform and prepare Nottingham students for the AFP application cycle. • They are by no means comprehensive, but I hope encourage application to the AFP.

3. Outline • What is the Academic Foundation Programme • Preparation for applying • Recurrent themes • The Interview • EPM • SJT • Resources

4. What is the academic foundation programme? • Job parallel to Foundation Programme • Typically complete 5 “clinical” FY1-FY2 rotations in Medicine/Surgery etc. • Protected time for “Academic” Activity

5. Is it right for me? • Academic foundation Vs Foundation Programme • Competitive entry (35-40% of students for 5% of jobs) • Designed for high achievers (e.g. 1st class degree, publications/prize winners, high performers) AND/OR • For those wishing to pursue an academic career (researcher, teaching fellow, medical leader)

6. What can it offer? • Research • Education • Leadership

7. Making the most of your time • You can make the most of your time in the run up to the application process. • There is a lot you could do in this time....

8. Posters • Worth points! • Easy to produce • Submit to conference, good chance of acceptance • Most BMedSci abstracts could get accepted if you submit to a relevant conference. • Aim for first author to score points- may not score if not first author

9. Prizes • Worth points! • Can be Royal College awarded • Can be Medical charity awarded • Variable difficulty to achieve • May be 2000-5000 word essay? • May be “top score” awarded? • May be related to a photograph/debate/best presentation? • Should be medically relevant, not e.g. 1st prize in a beauty contest

10. Presentations • Worth points! • Harder than a poster to achieve • Submit an abstract for oral presentation • Would involve speaking to an audience • Good practice for academic interviews

11. Publications • Worth points! • Can be difficult to achieve • May take a few months between submission, re-editing, acceptance and final publication • Doesn’t matter which journal, the process is more important. • Position of authorship not currently important unlike posters (e.g. could be 5th author) • Should have a PubMed ID

12. And what do points win...?

13. “White Space Questions” • May be part of AFP application, not National application • All parts of the question must be answered. • Use clear language, with good spelling, punctuation and grammar. • Know the meaning of command words like ‘describe’, ‘identify’, ‘explain’, ‘evaluate’, ‘list’ etc

14. Application and Interview ‘Themes’

15. Teaching • “3. Teaching Achievements: Give one example of your teaching achievements and its significance to your application for an academic Foundation Programme.” (NYH Deanery) • Most applications may award ~1/6th of the application score for teaching experience. • Do volunteer in clinical placements to deliver seminars • Do engage in presentations • Get feedback from your audience/letter • As a doctor, you will be expected to teach- researcher, leader, educator or non-academic.

16. Research • “Give one example of your academic achievements and its significance to your application for an academic Foundation Programme” (Northern) • May form ~1/6th of a written application • You may be asked to talk about some research you have undertaken. • BMedSci is excellent for this • Talk about study design, limitations, how it could be improved • Develop an awareness for study methods and flaws • Read a journal article, be prepared to discuss it- it’s strengths/weaknesses and implication for practice.

17. Leadership • As a doctor, you will at some point need to lead, make decisions and take responsibility. • Examples may include committees (medical/non-medical), OTC, Band leader, Head prefect.... • Know what qualities a leader should have • Know how leadership is important in medicine

18. Extra-curricular activities • Can be medical/non-medical • Music, sport, drama, flying, reading.... • You may be asked to talk about non-medical extra curricular activities (but how they are relevant) • A doctor should be capable of relaxing to avoid stress • Have a breadth and/or depth of interests.

19. Ethics • You may be asked about an ethical situation in your application • Make the most of your reflections in your Cp1/Cp2 logbooks! • Colleague relations (lazy, dangerous, rude?) • Difficulties at work (You’re stressed, Patient affects you?) • Patient with additional challenges (language barrier, different beliefs, unconventional decision?) • May relate to ‘4 principles’ • Consider other factors: who else is involved, social/economic/political factors

20. Emergency • “Assume you are the only person on the Admissions Ward, when a 70 year old man arrives, acutely breathless, sweating and with pains in the chest. Describe how you would manage this patient.” (Trent) • May be asked in your application about an emergency situation and your approach to it. • Chest pain (MI, PE, ACS?) • Abdo pain (AAA, Ectopic pregnancy?) • Unconscious (epilepsy, hypoglycaemia?) • Agitated (drink/drugs?) • They will want you to be applying ABCDE • Will be something you are expected to deal with as an F1.

21. Why do you want to be an AFP doctor? • “What qualities do you possess that will make you a suitable candidate for an Academic F2 post and what would you hope to achieve during this year? Do you anticipate any challenges in this post?” (SE Thames). • You will have your own reasons • There are good and bad reasons.... • You need to convey your enthusiasm for teaching/research/leadership • You need to reflect on your experience to make this seem a logical step • You should have an idea what you actually want from it. • You are not the finished product- with their help, you could do better.

22. Interview • All but one (Mersey) interviewed last year. • Interviews consisted of multiple mini interviews • Lasting approx 15-20minutes per ‘mini-interview’ • Focussed on ‘Clinical’ (i.e. How good are you as a future doctor) and ‘Academic’ (i.e. How good could you be if we give you the post?) • Questions focussed more on the job you’ve applied for. • Questions on career intentions • Just because you may have applied for research doesn’t exempt you from questions on education/Leadership (and vice versa)

23. Recurrent themes • Emergency scenario question • “Tell me about yourself....” • “Tell me about a paper you’ve read.... How is this relevant to practice? What are it’s strengths/weaknesses?” • “How does Leadership reflect on education/research” (and vice-versa) • Ethical scenario question • “How would you prepare a lecture?”“How would you handle situation x?”“How would you conduct a study on x?”

24. EPM

25. Educational Performance Measure • Worth 50% of your score (marked out of 50) • Between 34 and 43 points for ‘rank’ within the year. Scored in deciles- e.g. Top 10%= 43/43, bottom 10%= 34/43 • Up to 5 points for degree (1st class BMedSci= 3/5, 0 for 3rd class. PhD=5/5) • Up to 2 points for posters/prizes/publications (Max 1 for each) • Minimum score= 34/50 for this section.

26. Please note many students nationally will not score anything for extra-degrees, posters/prizes/publications. • Nottingham Students are at a distinct advantage nationally due to the BMedSci.

27. SJT

28. Situational Judgement Test • Worth up to 50% of your final score (can score 0 unlike the EPM) • Aspects similar to UKCAT/Like a personality test • Questions vary between best 3 options of 8 and “rank the responses 1-5”. • Will not test your academic ability • Tests professionalism/ethics/handling of difficult situations etc.

29. SJT and EPM • All applicants for both National and Foundation Programmes have to sit the SJT and EPM. • Those successful with the AFP application could find their scores for SJT/EPM contribute to their academic job allocation. • Those unsuccessful for AFP application will enter the National recruitment cycle, where the SJT/EPM will be used to allocate a national foundation job. • There is no penalty for being unsuccessful in applying for AFP- therefore don’t be put of applying!

30. Application process • http://www.medicalcareers.nhs.uk/medical_students/applications_for_f_programmes.aspx

31. My top tips • Look at your dissertation: • The introduction could be an essay prize waiting to happen? • The abstract could easily be submitted somewhere for a poster? • Write my dissertation up into a research paper? • Think about prizes- not many people apply, so good chance of getting one • Get involved in committees- these demonstrate skills like teamwork, leadership • Ask people to nominate you for stuff- be forward in asking for things! • Take opportunities to teach (get feedback) • Talk to seniors researching- might have a publication to write up? • Talk to current Academic trainees- a wealth of application and interview advice. • Think holistically and be a Jack of all trades rather than master of one. I.e. Don’t neglect your leadership or research skills because you want to be a medical educator!

32. Resources • http://www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk/pages/academic-programmes • http://www.medschools.ac.uk/AboutUs/Projects/clinicalacademia/Pages/default.aspx • http://careers.bmj.com/careers/advice/view-article.html?id=20009022 • http://student.bmj.com/student/view-article.html?id=sbmj.c2007 • https://twitter.com/UKFPO

33. Summary • AFP is competitive • AFP has three main strands • AFP is an excellent career informing opportunity • Is not for everyone • Plenty of Academic opportunities for both national and AFP programmes • Can enter “Medical Academia” at later stages of your career.

34. Feedback • Please spare a couple of minutes completing this feedback questionnaire online • http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/F5GR76S

35. Any questions? • jonathanmills1@nhs.net