Education
There are many opportunities on offer to support career progression for doctors who wish to join our Trust.
Continued professional development (CPD) is strongly supported and encouraged.
A mentoring programme is in place for consultants, and newly appointed consultants are routinely offered a mentor in line with Royal College and General Medical Council’s (GMC) requirements.
We are a teaching Trust of the University of Birmingham and Aston Medical School. We aim to provide high quality undergraduate medical education to inspire our future doctors to deliver excellent medical care and patient safety.
The Undergraduate Department at The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust provides support to medical and physician associate students whilst on placement. The aim and responsibility of the department is to coordinate allocations and teaching, provide a high-quality placement experience, as well as ensuring the safety and well-being of patients, staff and the students.
The team is made up of clinical heads of academy who oversee the placements, an administration team who coordinate and ensure the smooth running of placements, senior academy tutors who are consultants who supervise and teach, as well as a clinical teaching team who teach and support students while here on placement:
The Trust is keen to encourage new consultants to join the educational faculty by taking formal teaching roles in undergraduate firms, and to take advantage of the opportunities provided, including using the dedicated simulation suite for medical students.
The National Education and Training Survey (NETS) provides a unique, multi-professional insight into the experience of those working and learning in healthcare services across the country. The NETS has been running annually since 2019 and remains the only national survey of healthcare trainees’ and students’ experiences of their education and training environments. In 2023, RWT was rated ‘good’ by 77.5 per cent of respondents, referencing supportive colleagues, extensive learning opportunities, inclusive cultures and good quality of patient care.
The Postgraduate Medical Education department at Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust provides educational support and guidance to the doctors in training based at New Cross Hospital Wolverhampton, West Park Hospital Wolverhampton, Cannock Chase Hospital Cannock and those on community placements within the local area. Our aim is to ensure that the trainees based with us at the Trust receive the best educational experience possible.
We have postgraduate doctors in training allocated through NHS England Workforce Training and Education, and a very successful Clinical Fellowship Programme.
We have a strong track record in the development of clinical education at all levels, and we support individuals with a strong interest in medical education to build this into their posts in a formal way.
Providing quality education placements is important to the Trust and all consultants are expected to take an active part in the clinical supervision of these colleagues. There are opportunities to take up formal positions in clinical supervision, while there has been significant investment over recent years to develop simulation-based education.
The department Is responsible for coordinating the safe delivery of all postgraduate medical education. This covers all doctors in training, IMT, specialty trainees and foundation trainees. Also managed by the team is induction and study leave for doctors.
Each specialty at the Trust has a college tutor who will be available to offer support, guidance and careers advice to trainees within that specialty; the tutor liaises regularly with the appropriate postgraduate school to ensure delivery of the relevant curriculum, and acts as link to the relevant postgraduate school.
Trainees’ wellbeing is at the forefront of our department, we offer support when needed and an open-door policy as standard.
At the Trust at any one time, we can have upwards of 300 doctors in training, right from Foundation Year 1 to Specialist Trainees Year 8 (in some specialties).
The CFP provides opportunities for medical staff to join a structured training programme at RWT and our partner Trust Walsall Healthcare, in a range of clinical specialties.
The programme provides a structured three-tier teaching programme to support Clinical Fellows into national training positions at IMT or ST level. The programme also supports doctors wishing to pursue the Portfolio Pathway (PP) route to be granted specialist registration, through regular ARCPs and being allocated a PP educational supervisor.
For any enquiries about clinical fellowships, email the CFP Team: rwh-tr.cfpenquiries@nhs.net.
A range of additional sessions are on offer for medical staff across the career spectrum.
For newly appointed or aspiring consultants, our Corporate Learning Services offer an award-winning Future Medical Leaders programme, encompassing topics such as Job Planning, Facing the Coroner and Coaching Trainees.
For new and aspiring Clinical Directors, we also offer a Clinical Directors Development Programme, focusing on areas such as Strategic Job Planning, Governing for Safety and Assurance, and the Role of the Clinical Director.
Additionally, newly appointed consultants and Clinical Directors are offered a mentor as part of an established Medical Mentoring programme.
The Trust fully supports the GMC revalidation agenda, with a dedicated Revalidation Support Team.
The team also supports medical appraisal activity, providing personalised support for all consultants, including facilitating 360-degree feedback and guidance on completing documentation.
