1. PGHAN GRID POSTS
Just wanted to highlight a small change that we are making to recruitment to PGHAN posts this year.
There has always been some confusion around how their posts are advertised and preferenced, with some programmes based more in Gastro and some in Hepatology. This has made interviewing tricky as well, with some applicants essentially being interviewed for two different possible jobs in one interview and often being appointed a post in Hepatology, as they didn’t get the one they wanted higher up their preferences in Gastro. As a result, there have been instances of trainees giving up their posts after a year, because Hepatology was not really what they wanted and have found out that the two jobs are not the same at all. Although Gastroenterology and Hepatology are closely interlinked and have the shared CSAC, it is clear that the training programmes are quite different.
As such, we have advised the PGHAN CSAC to follow a similar approach to PAIID and to recruit separately to Gastro and Hepatology posts (but without splitting up the CSAC at the same time).
The application and interview process will therefore be structured differently to previous years:
We have already advertised the posts separately and added an update to the top of the applications page on the website. This is covered in our webinar next (see website) we will also be posting a news item on the website, further highlighting it and giving trainees a bit more info on how Hep differs from Gastro.
We hope this change will make things clearer for trainees and also ensure that the Hepatology side of the specialty is able to gain more exposure and attract the right sort of trainees. At the moment, we and the CSAC are referring to the change as a bit of a pilot but we are keen to try things this way for at least a couple of years.
2. 24th October 2023
Dear Trainee,
As outlined in the Sub-specialty Applicant Guide 2023-24, it is possible for trainees who recently joined the training pathway at ST4 (in August/September 2023) to apply for sub-specialty training in the 2023/2024 round on the provision that they will have completed all the Core Training capabilities by August 2024.
The RCPCH Medical Recruitment Team are aware that at this stage trainees have not yet had an ARCP and will not have documented their evidence on ePortfolio. We are also aware of the difficulty for trainers to accurately sign the Confirmation of Eligibility form when trainees have only been in Core Training for a very short period of time.
We want to ensure that trainers can make an accurate assessment if trainees are on-track to complete Core capabilities by August 2024 and ensure fairness for both the trainees and for the sub-specialty programmes they will be applying to. Therefore, in January 2024 the Recruitment Team will be asking Heads of School and Training Programme Directors (TPD) to re-confirm that all short-listed ST4 trainees are on track to complete Core Training for final sign-off by Thursday 11 January 2024.
Please discuss with your Head of School or TPD if you have any concerns or questions.
Kind regards,
RCPCH Medical Recruitment Team
3. ORIEL CONFIRMATION OF ELIGIBILITY FORM
An unexpected system error has been found that has affected the set-up of the Oriel application form. This has resulted in an old question, requesting an uploaded version of the Confirmation of Eligibility (CoE) form being included. We apologise for this inconvenience but unfortunately, we are unable to make any changes to the form now that the applications are open.As a result, trainees making an application to any of this year’s vacancies will be required to upload a document to this section, in order to be able to submit their application.
We do not want trainees to have to worry about waiting for their CoE form to be returned to them from their deanery, before being able to submit their application form on Oriel, so we ask that they take a screenshot of the CoE form and upload this where prompted. This can be in any of the following file types:.txt,.bmp,.doc,.docx,.jpeg,.jpg,.pdf,.zip,.png. The screenshot should show that they have completed their part of the CoE form and sent it to their deanery contact via ePortfolio.
N.B. Trainees still do not need to upload full download/version of the CoE form to Oriel, before an application can be submitted. The CoE form is completed and will be signed off by the RCPCH Medical Recruitment Team via the ePortfolio/Risr, as previously directed or via email for Irish paediatric trainees and allied specialty trainees.
