The Regional Medical Physics Department (RMPD) is accredited by the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) to provide training for Medical Physicists and Clinical Engineers according to IPEM's nationally-recognised scheme (Training Scheme Prospectus for Medical Physicists and Clinical Engineers in Health Care, IPEM, York, 2005). The scheme aims to produce Clinical Scientists trained "fit for purpose" in their chosen physical science or engineering specialities. To achieve these aims the scheme contains an educational component (an IPEM-accredited MSc course) and an in-service training (IST) component.
Trainees appointed by RMPD undertake the full-time one-year MSc course at Leeds University followed by fifteen months of in-service training at the various RMPD units. The RMPD can provide specialist training in each of the following medical physics or clinical engineering disciplines:
Trainees receive an introduction to most of these disciplines and select three for in-depth training.
From first submitting an application form to sitting the end-point assessments, the entire Training Scheme covers a period of around three years:
Applications to the RMPD Training Scheme must be made via the Recruitment Centre for Clinical Sciences, details of which are given below:
Recruitment Centre for Clinical Scientists
Northgate HR Outsourcing
Clinical Scientist Recruitment Centre
239 Thorpe Park
Peterborough
PE3 6JY
Tel: 0871 433 3070
Email: clinicalscientists@northgate-is.com
Web site: www.nhsclinicalscientists.info
The Recruitment Centre accepts applications from November-February; the application forms arrive with each Training Centre around 4 weeks later. RMPD usually hold interviews in early April. Enrolment on the MSc course begins shortly after the successful candidates confirm acceptance.
In their first year, trainees are treated very much like any other MSc course student. However, during the year the Training Manager will visit them regularly to discuss their preferred areas of study and selection of in-service training (IST) subject areas. They will also visit Newcastle for a tour of RMPD during their first academic term. By the end of the MSc the timetable of IST attachments will have been agreed with both trainees and Training Supervisors.
Trainees spend ∼4½ months in each of 3 long placements called Major Attachments; for each one, they must achieve a defined set of competencies and write a portfolio demonstrating how they have done so. A Training Supervisor is appointed for the duration of the trainee's placement, and every six weeks the Training Manager meets with the Training Supervisor and Trainee to discuss progress, looking at the practical experience the Trainee has gained and how this has been documented. At the end of the attachment, the Training Supervisor completes an IPEM Assessment Form which asks them to comment on the general scientific and professional skills the trainee demonstrated during the attachment. This assessment is taken into consideration when deciding the overall mark for the Trainee in the subject area.
Trainees also spend 1 week in each of a further 3 placements called acquaintanceships. These short placements are intended to give breadth of experience to complement the depth of experience gained during the Major Attachments. Acquaintanceships have no defined competency list and require no written evidence to be submitted for examination (although the Trainee may still be asked one or two questions about them during their oral examinations).
IPEM holds examinations three times per year (January, May and September) although portfolios must be submitted for examination 5-6 weeks beforehand; the RMPD Training Scheme is timetable to meet the December portfolio deadline. For each Major Attachment undertaken the Trainee must sit a 30-minute oral examination discussing the content of the submitted portfolio. The exam result for each subject area is graded Pass, Merit or Distinction. The three individual subject area grades are combined into a single Pass, Merit or Distinction overall; satisfactory completion of the Training Scheme (including the MSc) is recognised by the award of IPEM's Postgraduate Diploma.
Regional Medical Physics Department, Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 6BE, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)191-233-6161 Fax: +44 (0)191-226-0970 E-mail: webmaster@rmpd.org.uk Web: http://www.rmpd.org.uk
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Regional Medical Physics Department, a Clinical Directorate of the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Copyright ©1999-2008 All Rights Reserved. Revised 28 April, 2008.
