The AD's page

Who's who?

Hi! I'm Holly Hardy, the Associate Postgraduate Dean with responsibility for the GP Education in the Bristol area.

Mandy Price, the GP Education Co-ordinator, has access to my diary and can make appointments for you to see me.

Mandy.Price@nbt.nhs.uk 
Frenchay Medical Education Centre, Frenchay Hospital, Frenchay, Bristol BS16 1LE
0117 9753787

Interested in becoming a GP Trainer?

It's great being a Trainer and seeing Registrars develop over their year in the practice and leaving as competent GPs. The Practice team really enjoys having them. It also helps with one's own professional development and helps you keep up to date.

If you want to become a Trainer, take a look at:

• The Severn School Trainers' Pages;
• The Complete Survival Guide for Trainers - a detailed toolbox for new and potential Trainers, written by the Trainers of the Regius Society of Bath.

Then contact Mandy to arrange an appointment to see me. (See above for her contact details.)

If your practice isn't already a training practice, she'll arrange for you to be visited at your surgery. During this so-called "pastoral visit", you'll go though the criteria for being a training practice and Trainer, and how you can achieve them. Being a Trainer needs the support of the whole practice, so the AD will want to speak to one or more of the partners, plus the practice manager, on the visit.

If your practice is an established training practice, then I may see you at the hospital.

After that, work towards a formal application.

You can download the training criteria and application form here:

• Trainer (Re-)Application Form

It will require a great deal of work by yourself and your practice to complete, as it asks in searching detail about your readiness and commitment to be a trainer. Whilst the nominated trainer takes overall responsibility for registrar’s education, the whole of the practice must aspire through example in creating an excellent training environment.

Coming up for re-approval as a Trainer?

The ending of a period of approval as a Trainer gives you an opportunity to reflect, review your achievements and to plan for the future.

You will need to use the latest version of the training criteria and reapplication form

• Trainer (Re-)Application Form

The form will need effort by yourself and your practice. It will provide the visiting team with the most relevant information about your teaching and practice.

The document helps establish your development as a teacher, and your practice as a learning environment, since your last approval. It focuses on changes resulting from your experiences and evaluation of your teaching. It also asks you to list any changes in practice organisation, workload etc. and assess their impact on your teaching.

Please ensure that the re-application form and supporting documents are e-mailed to Mandy (contact details above) one month before the visit.

The approval or re-approval visit

The intention is for the visit to be an exchange of ideas, rather than an exercise in completing check lists and ticking boxes.

List of Trainers to be visited, and rota for visitors
You'll need to do at least one re-approval visit to another practice every three years. You'll get plenty of warning as to when it is. If you can't make the date you've been allocated, please organise to "swap" with another Trainer, and then let Mandy know who you've swapped with.

Who will visit?
The visiting team may consist of the Associate Director, another Trainer or GP Educator, and a GP Registrar. On occasions a lay member of the Educational Committee may join the team.

The visit will be an informal, though structured, discussion between the Trainer and the visiting team. Issues that have been identified through the Application Form and other sources will form part of the discussion, together with other issues that arise during the visit.

Timing
The visit will normally last up to four hours. Typical timetable:
9am Visitors meet, plan questions.
9.30 Meet with Trainer, ask questions that arise from the application form.
10.20 Look at and discuss the video of a teaching session.
11.00 Tour the practice, talk to other members of the team.
11.30 Visitors meet to formulate findings and feedback.
12.00 Meet with Trainer and other members of team to give feedback and recommendations.
12.30 - 1.00 End.

Video of recent teaching
Please prepare a video of a recent tutorial or teaching exercise with a trainee, if available, or other person if not.

The visitors will wish to view a short section (no more than 10 minutes) which shows you at your best. It would be helpful if you prepare a short report on the video commenting on its strengths and areas for your development.

Please do not send the video to us, but arrange for it to be seen during the visit.

Meeting other members of the team
The visitors will want to meet the Practice Manager to discuss any administrative or management issues arising out of training.

The visitors would appreciate meeting a Practice Nurse, a District Nurse and a Health Visitor if this fits in with their busy schedules. It will provide the opportunity to talk about the involvement of the Primary Healthcare Team in teaching and supervision.

It is helpful to meet some or all of the Partners briefly, to discuss training issues that they have and to show a practice commitment to GP Registrar training.

GP Registrar / GP PRHO / Retained Doctors: if in post, the visitors will want to meet them as well. Ask them to see our guidance for Trainees in visited practices.

The Premises
The visitors will ask for a brief tour of the practice, noting in particular the Trainee's room, accessibility to the Trainer and safety of the Trainee when consulting.

Other documentation to be available at the time of the visit

• Please ensure that the GP Registrar has their portfolio available.
• Your personal training log of the GP Registrar and documentation to support the training process should be available for viewing.

The role of the visitors

• The visitors will use this visitors' checklist to record their findings.
• Visiting Trainers, please see our Guidance for Trainers attending Approval & Re-approval Visits.
• Visiting GP Registrars, please see our Guidance for GP Registrars attending Trainer Approval & Re-approval Visits.

If you have any suggestions about how we can improve this section email them to contact@bristolgpsolutions.org.uk