This is a 2 year programme involoving all the acute trusts in the West Midlands. The trusts are grouped into training zones:

  • Birmingham (98)
    • East (Heart of England & Good Hope)
    • West (City & Sandwell)
    • South (UHB)
  • Hereford & Worcester (11)
  • Coventry & Warwick (41)
  • Staffordshire & Shropshire (53)
    • North (UHNS)
    • East (Mid Staffs & Burton)
    • West (Telford & Shrewsbury)
  • Black Country (26)
Hospital Number of CMT posts*
 City Hospital 13
 George Eliot Hospital 5
 Good Hope Hospital 5
 Heartlands Hospital 24
 Solihull Hospital 9
 Manor Hospital (Trust) 5
 New Cross Hospital 14
 Queen's Hospital, Burton 7
 Russell's Hall Hospital 12
 Sandwell General Hospital 10 (Including academic posts)
 Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham 35 (Including academic posts)
 UHNS NHS Trust 21 (Including academic posts)
 UHCW NHS Trust 27 (Including academic posts)
 Warwick Hospital 8
 Worcestershire Royal Hospital 2
 Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust 10
 Alexandra Hospital, Redditch 4
 Hereford County Hospital 5
 Royal Shrewsbury Hospital 7
 Princess Royal Hospital Telford 7

*Numbers are approximate

During the two years each trainee with rotate through six posts each lasting for four months. For the second year the programme tries to give trainees bespoke rotation based on specialty and geographical preferences.

On-call Experience

On-call experience includes participation in the acute medical take and emergency ward cover out of hours. This provides satisfaction derived from the acute delivery of care leaving in many cases to a rapid improvement.

Training Days

Dedicated teaching occurs on average for three hours each week. The delivery varies from zone to zone. Some zones have integrated monthly teaching sessions in which trainees from all the Trusts in a given zone attend one session once monthly. In other zones there are weekly sessions in each Trust with occasional sessions being held at one location. 

Hospital Teaching
 City Hospital Wednesday afternoon
 George Eliot Hospital Wednesday afternoons at the Clinical Sciences Building UHCW
 Good Hope Hospital Thursday afternoons. Rotates between Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull
 Heartlands Hospital Thursday afternoons. Rotates between Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull
 Solihull Hospital Thursday afternoons. Rotates between Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull
 Manor Hospital (Trust) Wednesday afternoon
 New Cross Hospital Wednesday afternoon at the Wolverhampton Medical Institute
 Queen's Hospital, Burton Zonal in Staffordshire & Shropshire. CT1s 1st Wednesday and CT2s 3rd Wednesday of the month.
 Teaching lasts the entire day
 Russell's Hall Hospital Wednesday afternoon 
 Sandwell General Hospital Wednesday afternoon
 Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Weekly, 3 hour teaching programme, rotating between year A and B topics. 120 formal teaching
 per year with breaks for Christmas, Easter etc. Regular PACES sessions within the programme
 timed to fit in with the PACES exam
 UHNS NHS Trust Zonal in Staffordshire & Shropshire. CT1s 1st Wednesday and CT2s 3rd Wednesday of the month.
 Teaching lasts the entire day
 UHCW NHS Trust Wednesday afternoon
 Warwick Hospital Wednesday afternoons at the Clinical Sciences Building UHCW
 Worcestershire Royal Hospital Mandatory curriculum teaching occurs in Worcester
 Alexandra Hospital Mandatory curriculum teaching occurs in Worcester
 Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust Zonal in Staffordshire & Shropshire. CT1s 1st Wednesday and CT2s 3rd Wednesday of the month.
 Teaching lasts the entire day
 Hereford Mandatory curriculum teaching occurs in Worcester. Weekly PACES teaching by Consultant that
 week to facilitate attendance. Journal Club Thursdays, Grand Rounds, including X-ray teaching,
 Tuesday lunchtime
 Royal Shrewsbury Hospital Zonal in Staffordshire & Shropshire. CT1s 1st Wednesday and CT2s 3rd Wednesday of the month.
 Teaching lasts the entire day
 Princess Royal Hospital Telford Zonal in Staffordshire & Shropshire. CT1s 1st Wednesday and CT2s 3rd Wednesday of the month.
 Teaching lasts the entire day

Most trusts provide formal teaching for the PACES examination of the MRCP.

Additional Opportunities Available

The formal requirement for each trainee to embark upon a Quality Improvement Project provides an opportunity to lead service development and gain a better understanding of management in the NHS. Beyond potentially improving patient care and safety there is then the opportunity to enter the project for presentation at an annual national meeting and/or submit the work for publication.

Integral to the training programme is the expectation that the trainee develops teaching skills by delivering formal teaching sessions and receiving feedback. This is an enjoyable and valuable way for the trainee to not only develop teaching and communication skills but also to reinforce the trainee’s underlying medical knowledge.

There is no formal requirement for research at this stage. However, most of the placements will be able to provide the opportunities for motivated trainees to embark upon some research or write articles for submission to medical journals.

Supervision, Appraisal and Assessments

During each 4 month post the trainee will have an educational supervisor with whom there will be appraisal meetings at the beginning, middle and end. In addition, the educational supervisor will be available to provide weekly supervisory meetings either in a clinical setting or to review and support the trainee’s progress.

The ARCP occurs at month 12 and month 23. In addition there are interim “ARCPs” at month 8 and month 16 usually conducted by the local Royal College of Physicians Tutor. For each ARCP there are clearly defined objectives which are stated on the “ARCP decision guide”, available on the E-portfolio and the JRCPTB website
http://www.jrcptb.org.uk/trainingandcert/Pages/ST1-ST2.aspx#cmtcurricassess

Examinations

The trainee will need to have passed Part 1 MRCP to achieve satisfactory outcome at the 12 month ARCP and the complete MRCP to achieve satisfactory outcome at the 23 month ARCP.