New Trainee Welcome Day 2025

We are looking into it, but there are several factors to consider, and this will take some time.

Each deanery and/or department will have its own ways of ensuring that trainees get the right exposure to post mortems (PMs), so do discuss with your educational supervisor and training programme director. The College is aware of the issue in PMs, and this is one of the elements that will be looked at in the curriculum review.

For paediatric pathology, we suggest you contact Dr Liz Hook in Cambridge, who is the national training programme director (TPD) for paediatric and perinatal pathology. You should try to have a taster week in one of the departments that offer paediatric pathology (Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, London, Cambridge, Oxford, etc). For forensic pathology, you need to discuss with your TPD and try to have a taster with your local forensics department.

You are required to do a minimum of 3 structured feedback sessions (SFS) during training (ST1, ST3 and ST5). You can initiate further MSFs in ST2 and ST4, if required. The MSF are done via the LEPT system, and the first MSF in ST1 is initiated by the College. You can find further guidance on the MSF in the LEPT system.

The College is committed to ensuring that no candidates are disadvantaged in their examinations. Subject to sufficient advance notice, the College is willing to make reasonable adjustments for candidates who have a disability or impairment in line with the Equality Act 2010. Further information can be found in the exam regulations and guidelines.

The LEPT system does not currently contain this aspect. But if you click into 'Portfolios' and then filter/sort, then this workaround will be helpful.

You should discuss your plans with your training programme director and educational supervisor. You should also speak to your deanery to find out about the process/requirements.

You need to select the 'Resource' tab to upload such items.

New ways of working, particularly relating to digital microscopy and reporting of cases, are reflected in the new curriculum, both in the form of high-level outcomes and descriptors, and in the individual Integrated Cellular Pathology Training (ICPT) and specialty-specific syllabus underpinning the curriculum.

You can find the Training Programme Approval Number (TPAN) by checking with your deanery.

Yes, the assessor can enter their own comments, i.e. to edit what you may have already entered.

You need to create an annual review of competence progression (ARCP). Then, when at least one training item has been assigned to the ARCP, click into the 'Progress' tab at the bottom, then create the educational supervisor structured report (ESSR).

Your training programme will guide you through this, but generally, yes, a wide depth and breadth of CiPs are expected.

Yes, you can do this via the 'Training development' tab on the LEPT platform.

Yes, that is correct, in the lead up to the ARCP panel meeting.

For year 1, the College initiate this for you around February.

You can do a post-CCT diploma in it. You can be a dermatopathology mono-specialist without this qualification (depending on your hospital), but it's a really helpful thing to do. It helps you to build your clinicopathological knowledge, too. Furthermore, you can find further information here.

You choose the assessors, but your educational supervisor has the final decision and has to approve your list of assessors.

Please either contact the Assessment team at assessment@rcpath.org, and they can return the form to you for editing, or contact your assessor and ask them to reject the assessment. It will be returned to you so that you can make amendments.

Please see the Pathology Portal webpage for further information.

There are some resources on the examinations section of the College website.

You need to talk to your educational supervisor, as there is flexibility. The exam guidance says: "Medically qualified candidates are required to have been trained in a recognised Regional Specialist Training Programme in microbiology or virology for a period of normally not less than 12 months". Plus, your educational supervisor/sponsor has to sign off on your application to confirm that you are sufficiently prepared.

There isn't a single national deanery policy for self-directed learning time, but rather a variety of recommendations and requirements that vary by specialty and training level. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges recommends 4 hours of self-directed teaching (SDT) per week for higher specialty trainees. We recommend that you consult your educational supervisor/training programme director regarding information regarding your work schedule and SDT.

Trainees should talk to their training programme director about research links with the department and research leads. The training programme director will be able to help you identify out-of-programme research opportunities.

It depends on what you are training in. For example, if you are in infectious diseases/virology, you need to ensure you get 6 months’ training time in virology as a priority. The training is bespoke as it depends on the timelines of grants, PhD, etc. We would encourage trainees to meet with their educational supervisor/training programme director to plan their training and what their priorities for their clinical training.

This experience would be an out-of-programme experience (OOPE). Each OOPE is different, and the skills you obtain depend on the post. Laboratory experience could count towards being an infectious disease consultant. We recommend that you consult your educational supervisor/training programme director regarding information on an OOPE and training that can count.

The only mandatory course is the ALS. The list of courses is a mix of free and expensive. At your Penultimate ARCP, we expect to see evidence of leadership or management, but we don’t mandate a specific course; it's up to the trainee. The list of courses that have an asterisk next to them is highly recommended.