South Thames Foundation School

Click here to enter the TFS online application system

There has been an update to the TFS Applicant Guide - the following addition has been made to page 4, section 7 for clarification:

NB: If evidence of degree classification from the awarding body is available at the time of application the degree will be considered eligible for scoring purposes.

You are strongly advised to read the information below and the TFS Applicant Guide before entering the TFS online application system.

THAMES FOUNDATION SCHOOLS UNIT OF APPLICATION

North Central Thames, North East Thames, North West Thames and South Thames Foundation Schools have joined together to form the Thames Foundation Schools unit of application (UoA) for the purpose of recruiting to academic foundation programmes commencing in August 2011.

The Thames Foundation Schools (TFS) are affiliated to six medical schools which together offer a total of 120 academic foundation programmes:

 Details of both the Thames Foundation Schools UoA application process and the programmes available are available to download at the bottom of this page.

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 
2. TFS APPLICATION PROCESS 
3. Timeline 
4. TFS Person Specification 
5. TFS Application Form 
6. Short listing 
7. Interviews 
8. Application Outcomes 
9. Appeals 
10. GENERAL INFORMATION 
11. Start Date 
12. Pay 
13. Travel & Relocation Expenses 
14. Programme Outcomes 
15. TFS AFP PERSON SPECIFICATION 
16. TFS APPLICANT GUIDE
17. TFS SUMMARY OF PROGRAMMES SPREADSHEET
18. BARTS AND THE LONDON SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AND DENTISTRY (QML) (link to new page)
19. BRIGHTON & SUSSEX MEDICAL SCHOOL (BSMS) (link to new page)
20. IMPERIAL COLLEGE MEDICAL SCHOOL and PARTNER TRUSTS (IMP) (link to new page)
21. KING’S COLLEGE LONDON SCHOOL OF MEDICINE (KCL) (link to new page)
22. ST GEORGE’S UNIVERSITY OF LONDON (SGUL) (link to new page)
23. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON MEDICAL SCHOOL (UCL) (link to new page)

INTRODUCTION

Please note that the full Thames Foundation Schools Applicant Guide and a spreadsheet of available programmes can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

The UKFPO has published guidance for applicants to the 2011 academic foundation programme (AFP) containing comprehensive details on both stages of this year’s application process plus a timeline showing key dates.

Recruitment to AFP 2011 is in two stages:

Part 1 will commence with a generic national application form which prospective applicants must submit online between 4 and 15 June 2010. 

Applying to the national AFP 2011 recruitment round:

1. Check your eligibility
2. Register and enrol online
3. Complete the generic online application form

Applicants will be issued with an ‘RA number’ which is a specific number assigned to each applicant when they enrol on the national online recruitment system. You will need to enter this RA number when applying locally to each Unit of Application, or “UoA”.

Unless applicants have completed Part 1 they cannot apply for an academic foundation programme.

Part 2 – applicants will undertake a locally-managed short listing and selection process between 10 June and 10 September 2010. 

This guide outlines the local process to be used by applicants applying to academic foundation programmes within the Thames Foundation Schools.

For further information on the AFP 2011 application process, please go to the Academic section of the UKFPO website.  Download 'Academic Foundation Programme (AFP) 2011 - Information for applicants'.

Please note: If you are interested in applying for an Academic Foundation Programme, you must first confirm that you are eligible to apply. If you need to provide evidence of your eligibility, it must be received by the UKFPO Eligibility Office between 10 and 21 May 2010.

Full details are available at http://www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk/pages/academic-programmes/how-to-apply

TFS APPLICATION PROCESS

Timeline

TFS Person Specification

Applicants for TFS academic foundation programmes will be required to meet the criteria listed in the person specification (see Appendix A, available for download at the bottom of the page).

TFS Application Form

Applicants for TFS academic foundation programmes will be required to complete a brief on-line application form.  A link to the TFS on-line application form is available at the top of this page.

The on-application form is divided into 11 pages and you will be directed to complete each section as you progress through the form.

1. Personal Details *
i.e. name, RA number, contact details

2. Eligibility to Apply *

3. Fitness to Practise, Criminal Investigations and Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 *
This information will not be used as part of the application process but will be forwarded to employers for use as part of pre-employment checks.

4. References *
This page will be deliberately blank and you will not be required to complete it.

5. Entry Qualification * – Primary Qualification
Please provide details of the medical school from which you will be graduating/have graduated.

6. Employment History *
This page will be deliberately blank and you will not be required to complete it.

7. Professional Qualifications
a. Degrees / other qualifications

• Marks will only be allocated for degrees/other qualifications which have already been awarded at the time of submission of the application.  NB: If evidence of degree classification from the awarding body is available at the time of application the degree will be considered eligible for scoring purposes.

b. Prizes / Honours / Distinctions

8. Academic Achievements / Publications
a. Publications / Letters / Case Reports / Presentations

• Marks will only be allocated for national/international papers/presentations.
• Marks will only be allocated for items which had already been published/presented at the time of submission of the application.  Items which are pending publication/presentation will not be considered.

b. Achievements – Academic / Teaching / Research

• You will be required to provide 2 examples.  There will be a limit of 150 words for each example.

c. Achievements – Non-Academic

• You will be required to provide 1 example.  There will be a limit of 150 words.

9. Preferences* (Programmes & Interviews)

• You will have the opportunity to rank all 120 TFS programmes in order of preference if you wish to do so.

• Please rank programmes numerically in order of preference with 1 being your most preferred option.

• For preferences which you wish to give equal consideration to but are of a lower priority than your other ranked options, please select 0.

• Please note that 0 is the default option. Therefore, if you do not select a specific preference, this will be entered as 0.

• For preferences for which you do not wish to be considered please enter ‘X’.

• Please note that applicants are advised to rank as many options as possible as allocation will be made on a ranked score basis following interview.

• It is strongly recommended that you read the detailed programme information (Appendix B) before making your programme preferences.  A spreadsheet summarising the TFS programmes is also available on the TFS AFP recruitment website.

NB: Although there is a choice of 19 KCL programmes there are only 18 places available.

10. Equality & Diversity Monitoring Form *

11. Declarations *

* These pages of the application form will not be made available to scorers/interviewers.

Short listing

Application forms will be scored by a panel of two people at least one of whom should be a clinician.

Members of the scoring panel will not have access to the personal details or preferences sections of your application form.

Interviews

TFS will be holding six interview sessions, one hosted by each medical school (see dates below). 

Applicants will be asked to indicate their availability to attend each of the six dates as part of the TFS on-line application process.  Applicants will be interviewed at the site of their first preference programme wherever possible, however, this will depend upon applicant availability and score. 

Invitations to attend an interview will be circulated via e-mail by the end of 12 July.  Those invited to interview will have 48-hours to confirm whether they will attend in person or by telephone (see below for information regarding telephone interviews).

Applicants attending an interview will be required to bring one form of photo ID (e.g. driving licence, passport, medical student ID badge etc) in order to confirm their identity.

Applicants will also be required to bring a brief, well presented portfolio containing evidence in support of their application, e.g. evidence of prizes, certificates, publications etc.

The interview will be divided into two sections with different panels, each lasting 10 minutes, one addressing clinical issues and the other portfolio/academic.  Each panel will consist of two members.  At least one clinician will sit on the clinical panel and one academic on the portfolio/academic panel.

Applicants will be issued with a clinical scenario to consider 15 minutes in advance of their interview.  The clinical scenario will form the basis of a discussion during the clinical interview.

During their two-year Foundation Programme, appointed candidates will have to achieve all standard Foundation competences in less clinical time, as they will also be undertaking academic activities. This makes it important that they already possess good clinical skills and hence the inclusion of both academic and clinical components within the interview process.

Telephone Interviews

TFS will provide a limited number of telephone interview opportunities for applicants who are unavoidably out of the UK (e.g. on elective) and are not available to attend an interview in person.

Telephone interviews will take place on 2 September.

Telephone interviews will follow exactly the same format as face-to-face interviews. 

The interview will be divided into two sections with different panels, each lasting 10 minutes, one addressing clinical issues and the other portfolio/academic.  Each panel will consist of two members.  At least one clinician will sit on the clinical panel and one academic on the portfolio/academic panel.

Applicants will be issued with a clinical scenario to consider 15 minutes in advance of their interview.  The clinical scenario will form the basis of a discussion during the clinical interview.

Applicants will be allocated a telephone interview on the basis of their score

Invitations to take part in an interview will be circulated via e-mail by the end of 12 July.  Those invited for a telephone interview will have 48-hours to confirm whether they will take part.

Additional requirements for telephone interviews

In order to ensure that telephone interviews are conducted in as equally  robust a manner as face-to-face interviews, it will be necessary for applicants wishing to complete a telephone interview to make the following arrangements:

1. arrange for a person of good standing e.g. senior doctor, academic etc to invigilate the telephone interview process

2. the person selected must not be a relative or close friend of the applicant

3. submit
a. the name, e-mail address (i.e. official employing institution e-mail not hotmail etc), position held and employing institution of their chosen invigilator
b. the telephone number they wish to be contacted on (including all required international dialling codes)
c. a well presented portfolio containing evidence in support of their application, e.g. evidence of prizes, certificates, publications etc.
to tfsacademicrecruitment@stfs.org.uk by no later than 5 working days in advance of the telephone interview. 

NB:  Candidates who know they will be away during the interview period are advised to prepare their portfolio (with copies of their documents) in advance of their trip and could consider making arrangements for a friend/colleague to submit it on their behalf if invited for a telephone interview.

The interview invigilator will be contacted by e-mail up to 72-hours in advance of the interview and will be required to confirm their personal details and that they have agreed to invigilate the telephone interview.  They will also be required to confirm that they:

4. have access to a fax machine and provide the fax number
5. will fax a copy of their own photo ID (driving licence, employer photo ID, passport etc)
6. are not a relative or close friend of the applicant
7. will review the passport of the applicant, take a copy and fax a signed copy of the page containing the applicant’s photograph to the specified fax number
8. will take receipt of a clinical scenario
9. will ensure that the applicant has access to the clinical scenario for no longer than 15 minutes in advance of the interview and does not make use of any unauthorised information (e.g. laptops, mobile phones, text books) 
10. will observe the duration of the interview to ensure that the applicant does not make use of any unauthorised information (e.g. laptops, mobile phones, text books) 
11. will identify and supply details of a suitable colleague who could act on their behalf in case of illness or other exceptional circumstances

TFS will undertake to make contact with the invigilator and call the applicant on the day of the interview.

It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure these steps can be completed.  If it is not possible for all of the steps above to be completed it will not be possible to take part in a telephone interview.

Also, if any of the steps above are not completed at any point during the process the applicant will be withdrawn from the interview process.

Application Outcomes

All applicants will be contacted by e-mail with the outcome of their application on 14 September 2010. This will be either an offer of a programme, notification that they are on the reserve list or notification that they have not been successful.  Applicants will have seven days in which to accept or reject the offer of a programme. If an applicant does not actively accept the post within this period, it will be assumed they have rejected the offer.  If an applicant accepts a programme, TFS will record this on the national online system. 

Following the acceptance period, if places are still available a cascade process will take place whereby TFS will offer unfilled places to the next highest scoring available applicant who has not yet accepted an AFP elsewhere.  During the cascade process applicants will be permitted three working days to accept or reject the offer of a programme.

TFS will match successful applicants to specific programmes on the basis of their score and preferences i.e. applicants with the highest scores will be matched to their preferences first.

Appeals

Applicants cannot appeal against their score. The decisions made about their score by the short listing/interview panels are final.

Applicants can only appeal if they think that the process discriminated against them in
some way. There is an opportunity to do this at the conclusion of the process, after applicants are matched to programmes. Details will be available here shortly.

Appeals are not accepted during the process as applicants cannot appeal against a process which is still running.

 GENERAL INFORMATION

Start Date

F1 programmes are expected to commence on Tuesday 2 August 2011.

Many trusts, however, offer local shadowing and F1s could be requested to start earlier as part of local arrangements.  Further details will be provided when an offer of a programme is made.

Pay

Junior doctors are paid on national pay scales, determined each year by the Doctors and Dentists Review Body (DDRB) after receiving evidence from the BMA and the Department of Health.

Trainees should assume that all programmes carry basic salary only unless otherwise informed by the employing trust on confirmation of appointment.

Details of pay rates can be found at:
http://www.nhsemployers.org/PayAndContracts/AgendaForChange/Pages/Payrates.aspx

Travel & Relocation Expenses

The reimbursement of travel and relocation expenses is administered by London Deanery on behalf of both London and KSS Deaneries.  Successful applicants to a Thames Foundation Schools academic foundation programme would follow this process.

Full details are available at:
http://www.londondeanery.ac.uk/global-news/junior-doctors-relocation-and-associated-expenses/?searchterm=relocation expense

Programme Outcomes

Applicants who successfully complete an academic foundation programme will be issued with a Foundation Achievement of Competency Document (FACD).

"Marks will only be allocated for degrees/other qualifications which have already been awarded at the time of submission of the application. NB: If evidence of degree classification from the awarding body is available at the time of application the degree will be considered eligible for scoring purposes."