There have been changes in recent years to how doctors progress in their training after finishing their initial Medical School training and how they advance into post graduate medical education and training. (PMET)

The Foundation Programme was introduced in the UK in August 2005 and acts as a bridge from Medical School to Speciality / GP training. It is a 2 year structured programme which enables doctors to be supervised and assessed against the Foundation Programme curriculum replacing the old system of Pre-registration House Officer  (PRHO) and Senior House Officer (SHO)

All Medical Graduates are expected to undertake this 2 year Foundation Programme to enable them to work and practise as a doctor in the UK. It is in effect a doctor's first job after completing Medical School. The Foundation Programme aims to give doctors in training competence in basic clinical skills and management of acutely ill patients as well as developing other softer skill sets such as team working and communication.

Application to the Foundation Programme is a national competitive process so you will need to take care and time to ensure you have the best chance of succeeding and progressing onto the Foundation Programme which you really want.  

All Postgraduate training is organised via Postgraduate Deaneries and the Foundation Programmes are managed at a local level through Foundation Schools which work in partnership with various key stakeholders to establish educationally balanced programmes which may consist of a range of specialties to enable FY1 and FY2 trainees to have exposure to as many and varied experiences as possible. Further information about applying to the Foundation Programme can be found on this site here.

The Foundation Programme will help you to form a clearer picture of how you see your career developing and will give you some actual experience in areas of interest. There will be structured learning built into the Foundation Programme with 3 hours per week for timetabled learning. These hours should be dedicated for learning and where practicable bleeps will be dealt with and managed during this time. In some circumstances the learning time may be pooled together to enable whole days of block release to be possible. The policy for this will vary between Foundation Schools and you are advised to check with individual Foundation Schools on their policy.

The General Medical Council (GMC) is the regulator for training.