Chapter 1: Introduction
1.01 Purpose of ST/CT programmes and interview processes
There are various training programmes open to doctors who have completed their
foundation years in the UK:
•
General Practitioner Training
o A four-year programme
o Doctors on the programme are designated by GPST and the year of their
programme, (GPST1; GPST2; GPST3; GPST4)
•
Core Training (CT) programmes
o Two or three-year programmes, (CT1, CT2, CT3) including
•
▪ Core Surgical Training, (CST)
▪ Internal Medicine Training, (IMT)
Specialist Training programmes
o Some specialties offer “run-through” training for doctors who have
completed the foundation programmes. They are planned to range in
duration from 5 to 8 years, (ST1, ST2…ST8). A Certificate of Completion
of Training at the end of the programme enables inclusion in the General
Medical Council’s Specialist Register and applications for substantive
Consultant posts.
o Other programmes are open to doctors who have completed relevant Core
Training where they join at ST3 or ST4 level.
These programmes are designed and coordinated to deliver the workforce which will
meet the nation’s future healthcare requirements. Our NHS needs a balanced
complement of doctors, but this is a major logistical challenge as there are many
unpredictable factors. The UK population doesn’t stand still during the years that a
doctor is in training. There is relocation, immigration and emigration. There are births
and deaths - predictable to an extent but heavily influenced by behavioural change. The
medical profession is also in a state of flux. On the personnel level it is also shaped by
migration as well as by doctors taking part-time work options and retirements. Medical
advancements can quickly change ways of working, as can any amendments to the
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