Core Medical Training

Structure of the Core Medical Training ACF posts

The ACF posts are 3-year training posts comprising two years of clinical training either side of a year devoted to academic research. The scheme has the following objectives:

1. To ensure that trainees reach CMT Year 1 and Year 2 competencies
2. To help trainees to obtain MRCP
3. To support trainees to undertake a Postgraduate Certificate or Diploma in Health Research (flexible training programmes will be designed for those who already have a Masters or Doctoral level degree).
4. To provide the academic opportunity and mentorship to develop an area of research resulting in an application for funding for a DPhil.

Clinical Training

Years One and Three of the ACF post will be devoted full time to clinical training. This will take the form of six four-month clinical posts in the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust, which will ensure that trainees reach CMT competencies. Each trainee will have an Educational Supervisor and will be assessed in the same process as all other CMT trainees under the auspices of the Oxford Deanery’s School of Medicine. These posts are identified as being run through to ST3.

Academic environment

At appointment, each trainee will identify the broad specialty area in which they wish to develop a research interest. An appropriate Academic Supervisor will be assigned to agree and to ensure that the academic milestones are met. The year devoted to academic time will take place in Year 2. There are no clinical commitments in this year. The intention is that this will allow the trainee to gain generic research skills over the year as well as specific research experience to deliver an application for funding for a DPhil for peer review. If this application is successful, we would hope that the DPhil would begin in Year 4 following completion of CMT Year 2 competencies.
Currently, trainees are involved in research related to the following clinical specialties: acute stroke, dementia, respiratory medicine, cardiology, oncology, gastroenterology, infectious diseases and endocrinology. At the time of advert, the specialties available will be defined. The research programmes available can be reviewed in more depth through the University Departmental websites.