Foundation programme

Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) is a major reform of postgraduate education. An important part of the reform has been to replace the traditional pre-registration house officer year and first year of basic SHO training with two-year foundation training that will, for the first time, require doctors to demonstrate their abilities and competence against set standards. There will be an opportunity to develop experience in a range of specialties. This will offer doctors the chance to gain insight into possible career options or to build a wider appreciation of medicine before embarking on specialist training.

Application

Medical graduates will be eligible to apply for one- or two-year foundation training. There will be a national date for the opening of applications which will be advertised in the medical press and likely to be early October 2006 to start in August 2007. Applicants will apply to the Unit of Application (UoA; usually a Deanery or Foundation School) that is their first choice, but will also rank other UoAs in order of preference. They will then be given a copy of the national person specification and details of the local application process by their first choice UoA. A letter of support from their medical school and details of two referees will be needed.

The first choice UoA will score the application and match rotations, with those applicants with highest scores getting their choice of post. Candidates who do not score highly enough to be offered a post in their first choice UoA will be automatically passed to their second choice but their score will remain the same.

National information

For detailed information about the application process, the curriculum and the competency based assessments look at the MMC website http://www.mmc.nhs.uk/pages/home and download the Rough Guide to the Foundation Programme -  http://www.mmc.nhs.uk/download/The-Rough-Guide-to-the-Foundation-Programme.pdf

Local information

For local information about applying for the Foundation Programme in the Oxford Deanery look at the Oxford Deanery website http://www.oxford-pgmde.co.uk/mmc/

MMC Careers service

MMC Working Group has produced a document Career Management - an approach for medical schools, deaneries, royal colleges and trusts www.mmc.nhs.uk/download/Career-Management.pdf

In response, the Career Development Unit has developed a strategy to provide a comprehensive careers service including;
• Website with national and local careers information.
• Career management skills workshops for Foundation trainees.
• Training in careers advice for Foundation Training Programme Directors.
• Individual career guidance for trainees with a dilemma.

MMC career service
Foundation appct flowchart
Resources