01.01.10
GMC will be flexible and pragmatic
The GMC has reassured doctors that it will be flexible and pragmatic in applying rules about when professional examinations can be taken.
This promise was contained in a joint statement from the GMC and a range of key organisations which sets out an action plan for addressing a number of concerns on this subject which have been raised by trainees.
The GMC has worked with the BMA Junior Doctors' Committee, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges including the Academy Trainee Doctors Group, COPMeD and Remedy UK, all of whom have signed up to the statement.
The statement which builds on progress made last month is designed to reassure doctors who may have made plans or have sat exams already.
It states that doctors who are already in specialty training or who enter by 31 October 2011 will be able to have any valid passes in previously approved national professional examinations counted towards a CCT, even if they were obtained outside approved training. By the end of October 2010, the GMC will issue guidance on recognition of examinations for doctors who may enter a CCT programme after 31 October 2011.
Following the recent discussions with trainees' representatives, colleges and deaneries, the GMC has also announced that it will review its standards for curricula and assessment systems to address issues around consistency, role, currency, frequency and quality assurance of the national examinations.
Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC, said: “I am so pleased we have found a way forward and we are extremely grateful for the constructive approach that has been taken by everyone involved in this process. The new legal opinion that the GMC has obtained has given us the flexibility we need.
“I believe all the organisations share a determination to understand and respond to the needs of trainees while ensuring that the coherence and integrity of training programmes are maintained. That is what patients and the service expect from us and I am confident we can all continue to work together over the next few months to develop a long term solution.”
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