During the programme Trainees will be working to a core curriculum and educational objectives that have been produced nationally.  Foundation Trainees will be issued with a personal training portfolio in which they will store evidence of their training experiences, appraisal and assessments.  The portfolio can be extended throughout the rest of their career to provide evidence for GMC revalidation as that is becoming compulsory for all doctors.

Please click here to download a copy of the Foundation Programme Curriculum.

Please click here to download a copy of the Operational Framework.

In Northern Ireland the Foundation Programme uses four tools to assess F1 and F2 doctors. 

1.  The CbD, or Case-based Discussion, is used by a trainee to have a focused discussion around an actual entry in the notes of a patient they have seen with a senior doctor who then assesses them on the basis of the dicussion.

2.  The DOPS, or Direct Observation of Procedural Skills, is used by a doctor, nurse or appropriate Allied Health Professional to assess a trainee performing a procedure, e.g. suturing.

3.  The mini-CEX, or mini-Clinical Encounter Exercise, is used by a senior doctor to assess an actual clinical encounter, or part of it, with a patient by a trainee.

4.  Multi-Source Feedback - TAB (Team Assessment of Behaviour)

These exercises are completed by a trainee’’s assessor in conjunction with the trainee