Support during training
Our Head of School, Val Barker, and Training Programme Directors, Shirley Brierley and Susan Hird, are keen to support all trainees throughout their training programmes in any matters relating to training. They are contactable via the programme support team, based in our Leeds office.
Educational
Every trainee will have an educational supervisor allocated at the start of training and for each subsequent placement. Educational supervisors are responsible for supervising, managing and assessing registrar's educational progress during their training, including signing off learning outcomes on the e-portfolio and agreeing “learning contracts” to plan trainee’s work. Supervisors and trainees should meet regularly to identify and solve problems and review progress. A learning contract should be completed between educational supervisors and their registrars to plan and follow learning during placements.
Educational supervisors are often public health consultants working at the same location as the trainee, but can sometimes supervise remotely, depending on the training situation. More details about their roles and responsibilities can be found here.
For specific areas of work, trainees may also be allocated a “project supervisor” to guide the registrar on a day-by-day basis. The role is more limited and does not require overall coordination of training, detailed assessments or remediation measures. More details can be found here.
Academic
Every trainee will have an academic supervisor allocated. This supervisor should support and advise trainees for the duration of the training programme, particularly in relation to the Master’s in Public Health, membership exams and any other academic learning needs. More details about the academic supervisor roles and responsibilities can be found here.
Registrars are involved in curating the independent Twitter account @phupnorth - showcasing everyday life for public health professsionals from a variety of different backgrounds across the North of England.
Every year, each new registrar is paired with an existing registrar at a later stage of training who will act as a buddy/mentor. Their buddy will provide support and answer questions which arise in the initial stages of training, such as basic housekeeping, useful contacts, FPH Membership or ARCP questions. Registrars and buddies will often meet early in the first month of the programme.
Registrars can access a free course (4-6 sessions) of coaching through HEE Y+H deanery. More information is available here.
The Faculty of Public Health have advised the following regarding professional indemnity:
“You must take out adequate insurance or professional indemnity cover for any part of your practice not covered by an employer’s indemnity scheme, in the interest of all individuals and groups you work with, as well as your own.”
Trainee support and advice is also offered through Health Education England working across Yorkshire and the Humber, with a variety of resources found here.