Barts and The London School of Anaesthesia >> Acute Care Common Stem (ACCS)
Acute Care Common Stem (ACCS)
What does an ACCS (Anaes) programme look like?
What does this mean for the length of my anaesthetic training programme?
Where can I find the ACCS curriculum?
What competencies do I need to achieve in ACCS?
What ACCS (Anaes) programmes exist at Barts and The London School of Anaesthesia?
How will I be supervised during my ACCS training?
What is ACCS?
The Acute Care Common Stem training pathway is a successful product of Modernising Medical Careers. ACCS gives doctors a broad-based training in the acute care specialties before embarking on training in their parent specialty of Anaesthetics/Intensive Care Medicine, Acute Medicine or Emergency Medicine.
There is a national ACCS website available at http://www.accsuk.org.uk/index.htm
Who can do ACCS (Anaes)?
The person specification for entry to ACCS is available at http://www.accsuk.org.uk/documents/recruitment/ct1accsam.pdf.
Essentially it is open to any doctor with Foundation 1 & 2 competencies. It will provide excellent training in acute care specialties. A good background in medicine is particularly useful in anaesthesia and ACCS is particularly suited to trainees wishing to pursue a joint CCT in anaesthesia and ICM. Trainees having completed ACCS and looking for ST3 posts will be very competitive.
What does an ACCS (Anaes) programme look like?
It is a 3 year programme. In the first 2 years trainees will get 1 year of anaesthetics and ICM, (usually 6 months of each but possibly 9 months anaesthesia and 3 months ICM) and 6 months of Acute Medicine and 6 months of Emergency Medicine. The order in which these modules are done is variable. If competencies are successfully achieved, the trainee then moves into CT2 anaesthesia for a further year.
What does this mean for the length of my anaesthetic training programme?
Because of the year spent training in EM and AM this means the training programme is extended by a year from 7 to 8 years. Those appointed in 2007 are guaranteed run-through slots until the end of training if progression at Annual Reviews of Competency Progression ARCPs is satisfactory. Those appointed after 2007 are uncoupled meaning that the post is for 3 years and then you have to re-apply for a CT3 post in anaesthetics.
Where can I find the ACCS curriculum?
This can be found on the ACCS website at http://www.accsuk.org.uk/curriculumfolder/curriculum.html . There are 4 appendices detailing the curriculum for each of the 4 modules.
What competencies do I need to achieve in ACCS?
Each module lists the competencies that should be achieved. Whilst this may look a daunting task there is considerable overlap amongst the curricula for each module and consequently many of the competencies can be achieved across many of the modules. A list of common competencies (p275-9) and procedural competencies (p281-2) is available as a matrix of transferable skills in the ACCS manual http://www.accsuk.org.uk/documents/accsmanual.pdf .
What ACCS (Anaes) programmes exist at Barts and The London School of Anaesthesia?
We have the following programmes:
1. Barts and the London NHS Trust
Year 1 Anaesthesia (Barts)/ICM (Royal London)
Year 2 AM/EM (Royal London)
Year 3 Anaesthesia (School)
2. Homerton University Hospital
Year 1 Anaesthesia/ICM
Year 2 AM/EM
Year 3 Anaesthetics (School)
3. Queens/Newham
Year 1 Anaesthetics/ICM Queens
Year 2 AM/EM Newham
Year 3 Anaesthetics (School)
4. Southend*
Year 1 Anaesthetics/ICM
Year 2 AM/EM
Year 3 Anaesthetics (School)
5. Chelmsford*
Year 1 AM/EM
Year 2 Anaesthetics/ICM
Year 3 Anaesthetics (School)
*These ACCS (Anaes) stems are currently managed by the London Deanery, however it seems likely that they will be taken back into the East of England Deanery and converted to EM stems. They will therefore be lost from the School.
How will I be supervised during my ACCS training?
You will be appointed an Educational Supervisor from your parent specialty who will oversee your progress and needs during your ACCS programme. Whilst you are in AM and EM you will also be appointed an Educational Supervisor from these host specialties to provide advice and support for your education in those modules. You should remain in contact with your parent specialty Educational Supervisor whilst you are ‘out’ for the year.
Who should I contact to discuss the ACCS (Anaes) programme at Barts & The London School of Anaesthesia?
Dr Chris Sadler is the Training Programme Director responsible for ACCS.
He can be contacted at chris.sadler@bartsandthelondon.nhs.uk or via the School Office on 020 7377 7793.
