Year 3 Training Programme

Employment and Leave

The STRs are all employed by University Hospitals of Bristol Trust. Their salary, travel, and on call costs are re-charged from UHBT to the trust at which the STR is working. The re-location budget is held by UHBT.  The STRs rotate to a new hospital attachment every 6 months throughout their 5 years of training.

All leave has to be approved by the Tutors at the hospital at which the STR is working.

Study leave requests must be approved at the the trust at which the STR is working, and then forwarded to   at the Severn Deanery for approval by the Head of School.  The claim for expenses is processed by the Deanery, who hold the study leave budget for all the STRs, after the leave has been taken. 

Induction

STRs will need to attend the hospital induction of all hospitals to which they rotate, unless they have recently been employed there (NBT/UHBT).

Teaching       

Regular teaching sessions on Thursday afternoons, mostly in the Seminar room of the radiology department in BRI, from September until June. The sessions cover all the syllabus of FRCR II B, with emphasis on film presentation and 'Viva' practice. See teaching web-page.

The e-LfH R-ITI on line learning has 800 modules which cover the entire FRCR II A syllabus. This should be used to back up the teaching programme, and fill in any gaps. E-learning is not to everyone’s taste, but is highly effective if it is.

Exams

All STRs should complete the 6 modules of FRCR II A during their third year. Failure to achieve this may lead to an ARCP 2 or even ARCP 3.

Rotations

The STRs spend 6 months at one of  UHBT or North Bristol Trust (Southmead / Frenchay) or Royal United Hospitals Bath.   The other 6 months are spent at either Cheltenham, Swindon, Taunton or Weston. The two groups swop at 6 months, so each STR spends 6 months in a 'central' hospital and 6 months in a 'peripheral' hospital.

Targets for the Year

There are strict targets which must be achieved if an STR is to pass seamlessly through their ARCP (Annual Review of Competence Progression) into the next year. Each year's targets are detailed in their web pages.

Work Based Assessments

The Royal College of Radiologists is presently trialling a full programme of Work Based Assessments. These will have to be approved by PMETB before they are put into general practice. They are likely to be in place for August 2010.

On Call

Third year STRs do on call duties. Those at UHBT, Bath, and Weston join the UHBT rota. Those at NBT, Swindon and Cheltenham join their hospital's rota.