Neurodiversity Coaching
Overview
Training can be demanding for postgraduate doctors, dentsts and public health practitioners in training (PGDiTs). You are simultaneously developing clinical competence, meeting curriculum requirements, preparing for high-stakes professional examinations and working in busy and unpredictable environments, often in multidisciplinary teams.
Some neurodivergent PGDiTs will have spent years adapting to systems that weren't designed with their neurotype in mind (sometimes referred to as masking, camouflaging or compensating), often without understanding why certain things feel difficult. This can make the demands of postgraduate training feel more challenging.
Coaching can be particularly valuable in this context, helping PGDiTs to identify the reasons why they may be finding aspects of their training challenging and develop practical strategies that are realistic and sustainable in the clinical setting.
Some of the ways that coaching can support neurodiverse PGDiTs include:
- Managing time, prioritisation and organisation in a clinical setting
- Coping with high cognitive load, such as during on-call shifts, ward rounds or complex clinical situations
- Preparing for and sitting professional examinations
- Maintaining portfolio and workplace-based assessment requirements
- Managing transitions between training posts and clinical environments
- Regulating and sustaining focus, energy, and motivation throughout the demands of a working week
- Building confidence and self-advocacy, including when discussing adjustments with employers, supervisors or other educators
This page provides guidance on the different kinds of coaching support available in the Yorkshire and Humber region.
Contents
Neurodiversity-specialist coaching
Neurodiversity specialist coaching is delivered by trained coaches with specialist neurodiversity expertise. It can help individuals understand how their neurotype affects the way they think, work, and learn, and to develop practical, personalised strategies that work with their cognitive profile rather than against it. Sessions are exploratory and goal-focused. Your coach will help you identify your strengths, understand the specific challenges you face, and build a toolkit of techniques you can apply in your day-to-day training and clinical practice.
Access to Work
NHSE YH strongly encourages all eligible PGDiTs to apply for an Access to Work grant, which can provide funding for neurodiversity-specialist coaching support. Depending on individual need, the Access to Work scheme can fund up to a maximum of 12 hours of coaching, as well as the purchase of specialist equipment and technology to aid PGDiTs in their training and clinical work. For further information, please see our Guidance on applying to Access to Work.
Deanery-funded coaching
As waiting times for Access to Work assessments can be considerable, PGDiTs who are awaiting an Access to Work outcome may be eligible for a maximum of eight hours of deanery-funded neurodiversity specialist coaching as an interim support measure, subject to the following eligibility criteria.
To be eligible for deanery-funded coaching all PGDiTs must:
- Have already applied to Access to Work and be awaiting an outcome or be ineligible for Access to Work
and
- Have an immediate need for support, for example, a resit examination is approaching or they have fewer than twelve months of training time remaining
As with deanery-funded neurodiversity assessments, specialist neurodiversity coaching can only be funded by the deanery where there is an impact to the PGDiT's training progression.
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Where a PGDiT was assessed by Genius Within via the Professional Support Neurodiversity Assessment Pathway, an impact on training has already been provided and a neurodiversity coaching request can be submitted without any further evidence.
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Where a PGDiT was assessed by Genius Within via the GP School Neurodiversity Assessment Pathway or has a prior diagnosis from an appropriately qualified professional, there must be an impact on the PGDiT's subsequent training progression for neurodiversity specialist coaching to be funded. This impact must be noticeable to/identified by the PGDiT's Educational Supervisor and/or Training Programme Director for the funding to be justified.
If a PGDiT doesn't meet the criteria for deanery-funded coaching, they can still access excellent and equivalent coaching support for neurodiversity via Access to Work or the Yorkshire and Humber coaching scheme.
The PGDiT should discuss their support needs with their Training Programme Director in the first instance. Where it is agreed that a request for funded specialist coaching is appropriate, the Training Programme Director must complete and submit the online Neurodiversity Coaching Request Form. Guidance on the process that needs to be followed, what happens before and after a request is submitted and a link to the request form can be found on our Request Neurodiversity Coaching webpage.
For more information about our funded neurodiversity coaching support, please see:
Yorkshire and Humber Coaching Scheme
It may not be possible for NHSE YH to fund specialist coaching in all circumstances. Where this is the case, PGDiTs can access support via the Yorkshire and Humber Coaching scheme.
The coaching scheme is available to all PGDiTs and provides a maximum of six sessions with a trained coach, at no cost to the PGDiT. Whilst the scheme’s coaches aren’t neurodiversity specialists, all are experienced in supporting PGDiTs with challenges that are common to neurodiversity, including time management, exam preparation, communication and stress management. Many of our coaches have provided support to neurodivergent PGDiTs and have received additional training in this area. Our coaches will support you to explore areas of challenge, identify and test practical strategies so that you can work in a way that suits your processing style, rather than a way that works against it.
The beauty of the coaching programme is that you can choose your own coach based on the expertise, areas of interest and skills indicated on their individual coaching profile.
You can self-enrol for coaching using our online system, MentorNet, and choose the coach you want to work with by viewing the expertise, experience, areas of interest and skills on their individual profiles. The system includes a keyword search to help PGDiTs identify coaches with relevant interests or experience, including in neurodiversity. Guidance on how to register and choose a coach is available on our Coaching webpages.