e-Portfolio
The College is aware of bugs in the new e-Portfolio and great efforts are being made to resolve the glitches. The College reassured us that no trainee will be disadvantaged. The College is aware that trainees will be catching up with multiple assessments and to this end they will not be penalised for “bunching”. MSF is particularly problematic but great efforts are being made to repair it. Please always search for your required assessor using their surname at first to prevent duplicate accounts being created with alternative email addresses.
In comparison to the previous e-Portfolio the WpBAs are driven by the primary learning outcome. Once the WpBA is selected, this will open functionality around which the association to said learning outcome may be completed.
Please note 2015-16 training period ARCP remains to be closed so registrars may notice their OST stage being one year behind. The College is working on updating peoples stages and closing ARCPs. Please manually select the appropriate stage when submitting new WpBAs. The warning red alert does not have a preventative function.
Please also note that all WpBAs will be automatically associated to the current open ARCP - it is no longer necessary to associate item to ARCPs.
Alert messages are regularly being updated to the e-Portfolio with pertinent updates. Video guides have been uploaded. Please do pay attention to these.
Please be aware the College has a very small e-Portfolio team – the Training and Education department staff are trying to resolve all problems with the IT provider. Please be patient if they do not reply immediately to your emails!
OSATS
The training committee wished to bring it to the attention of registrars that OSATS assessments should reflect their stage of cataract competence. I.e. Senior trainees are expected to perform OSATS assessment on more challenging cataract cases reflecting their level of surgical experience i.e. white cataract, post AACC, diabetic eyes. The purpose is to show spiral attainment of increasing cataract surgical skills throughout training.
Awards and Scholarships
The OTG brings it to registrar’s attention the abundance of scholarships and awards coordinated by the college. https://www.rcophth.ac.uk/professional-resources/awards-and-prizes/
Resources and Support for Trainees
The college is committed to supporting registrars and your attention is drawn to the range of resources available for your training including FAQ’s and training expectations.
https://www.rcophth.ac.uk/training/resources-and-support-for-trainees/
Undergraduate Curriculum
For registrars engaged in teaching undergraduate ophthalmology there is a recently published curriculum which may be useful for guiding teaching objectives
Junior Doctors Contract
The BMA have advised they are still in principle against the new Junior Doctors Contract and its imposition. Unfortunately it is still unclear when it will be implemented for Ophthalmology, and who will be affected. It is anticipated any registrars below ST3 from August 2017 onwards will potentially be placed on the new JDC. It is also apparent to the OTG that trusts are interpreting and implementing the JDC variability on a local level.
A free exception reporting app has been created by Dr Kit Latham which will calculate exception reporting.
http://drfocused.com/index.html
SOS Simulation Gallery
Simulated Ocular Surgery have created a new peer review educational video resource on the SOS website. The aim of this Simulation Gallery is to create a repository for high quality surgical training videos from round the world, which will enable ophthalmologists to share their teaching tips for a particular procedure and for trainees to share their training experiences. The College would like to encourage Trainees and Trainers to submit videos of any type of surgical teaching, be it on the Eyesi, SOS eyes, Kitaro eyes, cadaver eyes or any other material that can be used for teaching surgical skills. There will be channels for all of the surgical subspecialties and also for Training Programs, the idea being that departments can post videos about the Fellowships they offer, their simulation facilities and teaching videos shot by members of the department.
From January 2017 videos can be submitted via the SOS website, these will be reviewed by a panel of experts for each subspecialty and if they are of the appropriate quality they will be posted in the Gallery.
Possible videos might be;
1) Eyesi videos
- tips for completing certain tricky modules- how I conquered the phaco chop module
- useful modules and how to use them to further your cataract skills
- how to create "courses" for a selection of tasks e.g. CCC, bimanual tasks, sculpting / cracking
- splicing videos of live surgery with Eyesi equivalent manoeuvres and SOS or Kitaro eyes showing how you can progress from Eyesi to models and then live surgery.
2) Video diaries of a trainee's progression from simulation to first their live surgery, for any technique.
3) Local Ideas on how to simulate complications of any description in order registrars can learn how to manage complications in the safety of the simulation environment.
The Simulation Gallery will go live at the RCOphth Congress and will also be linked to the AAO’s ONE Network, so any videos you submit will have a global audience!
Part 1 FRCOphth
The examinations committee are looking to appoint a trainee representative to assist with standard setting and will soon be advertising this role. Trainees with FRCOphth can apply to be trainee examiners https://www.rcophth.ac.uk/examinations/examiners/ and can mark the Part 1 FRCOphth as well as write questions for both the Part 1 and Part 2.
Part 2 FRCOphth Oral
Registrars may wish to be aware that large numbers of patients are recruited for the oral examination. It was observed in the most recent sitting that some candidates were entering OSCE stations with pre-conceived and subsequently incorrect diagnoses.
Outgoing OTG Chairperson
Mr Ollie Bowes term as chair of the OTG has come to an end. He has provided strong leadership to the OTG, through the turbulent times of the JDC, led increased representation within the OTG of trainees and ensure active trainee involvement in the colleges ongoing planning for a new SHAPE curriculum. We express our thanks to him for all his hard work and wish him well.
Best Wishes
From your OTG reps
Oliver Bowes (Chairman) East Anglia
James Laybourne Northern
Donal McCullagh Northern Ireland
Lina Osman East Midlands
Ian De Silva West Midlands
James Huxtable North West
Stephenie Tiew Mersey
Mukhtar Bizrah North Thames
Tariq Ayoub North Thames
Rhys Harrison Severn
Nick Edmeades Peninsula
Damien Yeo Wales
Mital Shah Oxford
Alison Penwarden Wessex
David Miller Scotland (West)
Steve Naylor (Deputy) Yorkshire
Su-Yin Koay South Thames
Varo Kirthi South Thames (KSS)
Megan Johnson Scotland (East)