Foundation year 1 (F1)
Your first foundation year will start with an induction course. During this course you will find out more about the hospital where you will be working, your timetable and contact details for your supervisor.
You will also be given two important documents – the curriculum and your Foundation Learning Portfolio (Click here for details).
The first year of the Foundation Programme (F1) builds on the knowledge, skills and competences you will have gained during your undergraduate training. When you have completed F1, you will be able to recognise and deal successfully with the most common clinical and non-clinical situations. This will satisfy the requirements for full registration with the GMC.
Most of your learning will take place in secondary care settings, generally hospitals. It will be a mixture of teaching and hands-on experience, both on the ward and in formal teaching sessions. You will be assessed for your clinical and non-clinical skills. You can find out more about the hospitals or other settings where you are likely to work by looking at the information provided by the foundation schools.
The day-to-day details of how you spend your time will depend on the nature of the training at your hospital and the placement. However, you are likely to be performing tasks such as:
- checking in patients on admission and writing discharge letters
- putting in IV lines and interpreting ECG read-outs on a cardiology team
- writing up patients' notes and drug charts and organising tests for patients
- taking part in ward rounds, usually with senior staff such as consultants, career grade doctors and more experienced doctors in training
- assisting in the operating theatre and pre-operative assessment clinics – you may be asked to do minor procedures, such as closing wounds, under supervision
- taking part in audits
- seeing patients both with a GP and on your own (with another doctor available to consult with if needed) in general practice
These tasks will help you improve your skills at history-taking and examination of a patient, diagnosis, observation of patients and treatment. At the same time, you will be polishing skills such as communicating with other staff, patients and their families, and using IT systems.
The formal teaching activity will be based on clinical scenarios. It should cover:
- diagnosis and clinical decision making
- effective time management, prioritisation and organisational skills
- clinical accountability, governance and risk management
- safe prescribing in clinical practice
- the frameworks needed to ensure patient safety
- legal responsibilities in ensuring safe patient care
- the recognition of diversity and cultural competence
You will have up to three hours a week of protected study time. Different foundation schools have different ways of allocating the time – you may have teaching slots each week or you may have a full week of study every eight weeks or so.
Team work
Most of the time you will be working in multi-disciplinary teams. You are likely to work closely with other doctors in your specialty teams, through to consultants, and also with nurses and other healthcare workers. Working alongside experienced nurses is a good way of enhancing your knowledge. You are likely to have regular meetings to discuss progress with clinical and non-clinical colleagues.
You should never be made to feel that you are working beyond your level of competence – there will always be someone on hand to help and support you.
Placements
You must spend at least three months in a surgical post and three in a medical post, with time also spent in another specialty.
Your F1 placements will be determined by the post or programme for which you are selected. Most placements are for four months, but placements vary, with some foundation schools offering three blocks of four-month placements and others four blocks of three months; others may offer six months of surgery and six months of medicine. It is important to check that the placements offered fit with your career ideas before you apply for foundation training.
The specialty placement can be in any of the 60-plus recognised specialties – from anaesthesia to psychiatry, paediatrics to public health. Each foundation school will have a different list to choose from, but all these placements enable you to work towards the Foundation Programme competences.
Support
You will have an educational supervisor and a clinical supervisor to support you through both of your foundation years.
The clinical supervisor is responsible for monitoring, supporting and assessing your day-to-day clinical and professional work. This will usually be the consultant that you are directly responsible to for your clinical work, and you'll have frequent contact with them.
The educational supervisor is responsible for monitoring, supporting and assessing your educational programme and progress. This includes assessment, and/or the collection of assessment results.
Your educational supervisor may see you much less often than the clinical supervisor. Sometimes, though, your educational supervisor and clinical supervisor may be the same person.
Registering as a doctor
Once you have successfully completed your F1 training you are eligible for full registration with the GMC. You can download an application form from the GMC website. Once registration has been granted you can continue your medical education and begin training as a fully registered doctor.
For further information, please visit the Foundation Programme website
