Peninsula Foundation School Specialised Foundation Programme (SFP)
Academic Research Foundation Programme Job Description (RDUH - Exeter)
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Pathway 1 – Local Medical School recruitment
Please contact your medical school to find out how to apply through Pathway 1.
Please refer to the NHSE website and to the UKFPO website for more information on Specialised foundation programme (SFP) recruitment and allocation.
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Pathway 2 – allocation via PIA
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – East (based in Exeter) currently offer 5 x Academic Research 2-year Foundation Programmes.
From 2025 entry nationally one-third of specialised foundation programmes in England have been recruited to via Pathway 1, but two-thirds of SFPs in England will be matched to applicants who are eligible for the foundation programme via the national allocation process (Pathway 2) via Oriel using PIA. Refer to the UKFPO website for information about how the PIA process works.
This means in Exeter 2 x SFP research programmes are allocated via selective recruitment by Exeter Medical school (Pathway 1).
The remaining 3 x Research SFP Programmes will be allocated via PIA allocation (Pathway 2).
All eligible applicants who are interested in applying for a SFP in England can do so via the main application/allocation process, if they fall into one of the following categories:
- the applicant is a final year student at an English medical school but does not wish to apply via pathway 1
- the applicant is a final year student at an English medical school who applied for an SFP via pathway 1 but was not selected for an SFP via this route
- the applicant qualified from a medical school in the UK or have been renominated within the dates specified by the UKFPO every year on their website but does not wish to apply via pathway one
- the applicant qualified from a medical school in the UK or have been renominated within the dates specified by the UKFPO every year on their website, and applied for an SFP via pathway 1 but was not selected for an SFP via this route
- the applicant is a final year student/eligible applicant from elsewhere in the UK
- the applicant has been deemed eligible to apply for the foundation programme via the national eligibility application route
An applicant will not be able to apply on Oriel for an SFP via pathway 2 if they were selected by their medical school for an SFP via the pathway 1 process. Applicants who are successful via pathway 1 will be removed from the main application/allocation process on Oriel.
F1
For the F1 year, applicants will be allocated to one of 3 standard 2-year rotations via Preferenced Informed Allocation (PIA) through the UKFPO national recruitment process.
Currently the F1 programmes are as below (Corresponding F2 year details are in the F2 section):
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F1 year Programme No |
August |
December |
April |
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PEN/RH801/59 |
Cardiology |
General Surgery (colorectal) |
Emergency Medicine |
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PEN/RH801/60 |
Emergency Medicine |
Cardiology |
General Surgery (colorectal) |
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PEN/RH801/61 |
General Surgery (colorectal) |
Emergency Medicine |
Cardiology |
Please note that as with all our programmes these are subject to change
There will be 5 Academic days in F1, the use and purpose of which is to be agreed on an individual basis with the educational supervisor.
F2
This is a one-year academic post that consists of one 4-month academic placement with 2 other 4-month clinical placements. You will need to be on track and be given an outcome 1 at ARCP for F1 to be offered the chance to continue with the Academic component in F2.
Currently the F2 programmes related are as below:
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F2 year Programme No |
August |
December |
April |
|
PEN/RH801/59 |
Academic - Research |
Adult Internal Medicine (Geriatrics) |
General Practice |
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PEN/RH801/60 |
General Practice |
Academic - Research |
Adult Internal Medicine (Geriatrics) |
|
PEN/RH801/61 |
Academic - Research |
General Practice |
Adult Internal Medicine (AMU) |
Please note that as with all our programmes these are subject to change
The academic placement
This will consist of a 4-month research post in the F2 year. The foundation doctor will be supported during the F1 year to identify a supervisor and project that aligns with their interests. A list of current supervisors is available on this link https://foundation.peninsuladeanery.nhs.uk/about-us/research-opportunities-at-university-of-exeter-medical-school-for-academic-foundation-doctors/ . However we will support Foundation Doctors to identify a project and supervisor within their area of interests, which will include a wide range of clinical academics in Exeter beyond those on this list.
The research project is likely to be a discrete project that they can take ownership of, develop in their placement and ideally progress towards presentation and publication. In most cases this will be secondary data analysis: undertaking primary research and obtaining related approvals is unlikely to be feasible in this time scale. As well as a personal project, Foundation Doctors will be given the opportunity to observe other projects and be expected to join departmental meetings and talks, and present data to their research group. They will receive support in developing their research skills and progressing their research project from their supervisor to the wider team.
The objectives of the research placements are to:
- Develop core transferable academic skills
- Gain experience of working in an academic team to determine whether they may be interested in an academic career beyond the placement
- Complete a discrete research project and produce at least one academic output: a presentation at a conference (minimum) and ideally contribute to a research paper.
- There will be no requirement for an on-call commitment during this placement to allow the focus to be on the research project.