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Postgraduate Training Pathway

Specialty curriculum

The GMC has approved a postgraduate training curriculum for Emergency Medicine.

Training pathway

The specialty training programme is competence-based, usually of 6 years duration after the completion of Foundation years 1 and 2.The programme is divided into three years core specialty training and three years higher specialty training. Entry to higher specialty training is by competitive application.

Satisfactory completion of core training and specialty training and both College exams would allow the trainee to be recommended for their Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT).

During the specialty training programme, trainees will be expected to complete workplace based assessments, which will be a combination of observation of clinical practice (Mini CEX and DOPS), case based discussions, multi-source feedback and include other tools which focus on specialist skills.

Length of training

The programme is divided into three years core specialty training and three years higher specialty training.Entry to higher specialty training is by competitive application. 

Core Specialty Training consists of two years of Acute Care Common Stem (ACCS) training and one year of CT3 specialties.  The ACCS consists of a year of training and experience in EM and Acute Medicine and a further year in Anaesthetics and Intensive Care Medicine. CT3 training is tailored to enable trainees to achieve the competences required to care for children in the ED as well as consolidating the adult competences gained in CT1/2.

The last 3 years (Specialty Training year 4-6) are spent in EDs, gaining additional clinical competences, consolidating prior training and gaining skills in academic emergency medicine, critical appraisal and management topics.  

The Membership Examination of the College of Emergency Medicine (MCEM) is required for progression through training. Part A is desirable for entry to CT3 and Parts A, B and C are required for entry to ST4.  Trainees must pass the Fellowship Examination of the College of Emergency Medicine (FCEM) towards the end of training (ST5 or above) in order to be eligible for a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT).

Person specification

The person specification for Emergency Medicine is available.

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