ARCP: tips and advice for ST3
Firstly, welcome to haematology in Yorkshire. We are very pleased to have you!
Many of you will have worked in haematology departments before, but some may not. All of you will need to acquire new skills, for example, morphology. Clinical haematology does involve a wide range of topics conditions that you may not have seen as a core medical trainee. Please do not worry - you are here to learn and be trained and there will be plenty of support available. Do put your hand up and seek help if necessary. It can be a steep learning curve, especially at first, but it is quite normal and you will find that everything falls into place after a while.
You will need access to the eportfolio for haematology trainees. Unsurprisingly, this involves paying money (as is the case with so much of medical training) to the JRCPTB.
Once you have access you will need to do assessments (now called “Supervised Learning Events” or SLEs). There are certain types of SLE that we need to do and certain numbers of each type per training year. An evaluation of the nature and number of SLEs completed will form part of your ARCP (annual review of competence progression).
Having paid for your eportfolio access you will want someone to appreciate all the effort you have gone to. This person is your Educational Supervisor (ES). This is the person who will supervise all 5 years of your training and with whom you need to meet at least once a year prior to the ARCP (which occurs each May). Your ES needs to review all your portfolio entries for the last 12 months and compile their own ES report prior to the ARCP. (See Supervisor’s Report section below for further information.)
Each subspecialty within haematology training will require you to have a Clinical Supervisor (CS) with whom you should have an induction meeting and final appraisal (ideally at the beginning and end of your rotation). This person will change for every rotation. Please note you need to email the deanery to ask for each new clinical supervisor to be granted access to your eportfolio before each rotation.
