Dear all, here are some highlights from the latest sac meeting. I
have also included details on the PROBABLE person specification for
entry into ST3. This is by no means set but should give prospective
trainees an idea of what they should be aiming for.

1. Quality assurance in paediatric surgery

Previously, the quality of your training was assured by the SAC.
They inspected consortia/programmes on a regular basis and collected
feedback from the forms you filled in for your RITA. They had a lot
of clout as they could withdraw educational approval for sprs and
potentially close units! Also, we as trainee reps had a significant
voice.

This has changed with the advent of PMETB. They now have
responsibility for quality assurance but will NOT be reviewing units
in detail.

In a lot of ways, I think this devolves a lot of the responsibility
and ability to identify failing units/centers/individuals to us.

If you feel there are issues/problems with where you are working,
pass them on to your regional rep. S/he can then collate info and
pass it on to the local programme director. If this does not settle
the issue, the info can be passed to the national trainee reps who
can forward the info to the sac and pmetb. The sac still has the
abilty to initiate triggered visits by liasing with pmetb, but we can
only do things if we are aware.

Of course, if the quality assurance procedures put in place by pmetb
work then this will not be an issue.

And we know how well they handled mmc.....

2. Dublin/Belfast

I have been informed that all trainees in these centers are now fully
aware of the problems in rotating between the two centers. If you
feel you are not then email me. Dublin trainees can now get 2 years
oope in the uk to ensure they have 2 center training.

3. GOOD NEWS FOR SHOs WAITING FOR JOBS

There should be at least 20 numbers for ST3 in paed surgery for aug
2007. Another 4 or 5 in scotland. This number will be repeated in
2008 before falling to about 15 per year after that. This will
hopefully accommodate the bulge of existing shos before moving back.

There is a potential gamble for the shos in the bulge year in that
there is no guarantee that consultant posts will be available when
they qualify. This is of course true for the rest of us too but
there are good reasons to expect that paed surgeon numbers WILL
expand siginicantly in the future. I will try to talk about this
more at the manchester training meeting.

4. Person specification

See document uploaded to the files section. Note this is intended as
a guide only, is not gospel and may well change. However, it should
give those out there aiming for an ST3 posts what sort of
competencies they should be getting.