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Annual Review of Competence Progression

Introduction

The Annual Review of Competence Progression (ARCP) is a formal review of a trainee’s progress towards completing the PMST programme and eligibility for entry on to the GMC’s specialist register for pharmaceutical medicine.

Trainees must participate in their ARCPs. The ARCP process is important for the trainee to gain specialist certification and  to revalidate as fit to practise.

The ARCP meeting is conducted by a panel under the authority of the postgraduate dean for the Pharmaceutical Medicine Deanery.

The panel will review the trainee’s e-portfolio and the educational supervisor’s assessment of the trainee’s progress. The panel will, based on these sources of information, issue an appropriate ARCP outcome indicating either satisfactory or unsatisfactory progress in training.

The  panel also advises the postgraduate dean in her capacity as responsible officer for the deanery on any concerns about a trainee’s fitness to practise.

The ARCP process

We normally hold one ARCP session each month. Each session is split into two parts – A and B – and delivered remotely  via Zoom (or another online platform if necessary).

The ARCP panel will hold an initial meeting (Part A) to discuss the e-portfolios and provisionally agree the ARCP outcomes of each of the trainees under review. The panel’s initial meeting will be held in the trainees’ absence, which is in keeping with the expectations in the Gold Guide.

The panel will meet some of the trainees under review (Part B) – these will normally be:

– ST3 trainees;
– trainees provisionally issued an ARCP outcome 2, 3 or 4; and
– trainees out of programme career break (OOPC)

This list is not exhaustive. Trainees who do not fall into one of these groups may still be required to meet the panel.

Trainees must engage with their training programme and prepare for their ARCPs. This includes:

– collecting evidence of their curriculum competencies;
– writing their reflective practice commentaries;
– undertaking multi-source feedback (MSF);
– completing workplace-based assessments on the e-portfolio; and
– self-declaring their fitness to practise annually.

Trainees must also complete the ‘Trainee self-assessment and declaration for use in ARCPs during COVID-19 pandemic’ form.

If you have any questions about your ARCP, please contact FPM’s Specialty Training Manager.

Resources

ARCP outcomes

The ARCP panel can issue a trainee one of the outcomes listed below. Please read the 'Reference Guide for Postgraduate Specialty Training in the UK' (the Gold Guide) for explanations of what each outcome means.

Satisfactory progress – achieving progress and the development of competences at the expected rate.

Full description of ARCP outcomes

ARCP requirements

The trainee must:

a) link their evidence to each capability in practice (CiPs);

b) complete five to ten workplace-based assessments on the e-portfolio for each CiP, using the full range of assessments and a variety of assessors;

c) reflect on their evidence (i.e. explain how their evidence demonstrates their achievement of the curriculum competencies);

d) have met the rate of progression according to the ARCP decision aid for their year of training;

e) rate their entrustment level (1 – 4);

f) undertake MSF with at least 12 responses;

g) complete the self-declaration for revalidation – the Form R Part B;

h) complete, if necessary, a wider scope of practice form if they do other work as a registered medical practitioner outside of their pharmaceutical medicine post for training;

i) complete the ‘Trainee self-assessment and declaration for use in ARCPs during Covid-19 pandemic’ form; and

j) upload a copy of their GMC national training survey completion code to the e-portfolio personal library.

The educational supervisor must:

a) rate the trainee’s entrustment level (1 – 4) for each CiP;

b) complete the ‘Pharmaceutical Medicine Supervisor’s Report’;

c) complete the ‘Pharmaceutical Medicine Annual Appraisal’;

d) validate the trainee’s ‘Trainee self-assessment and declaration for use in ARCPs during Covid-19 pandemic’ form;

e) raise any concerns about the trainee’s fitness to practise in either of their supervisor’s report or annual appraisal;

f) release the MSF summary report after the trainee has received at least 12 responses;

g) raise and record any concerns that are reported in the MSF summary report; and

h) discuss the results of the MSF summary report with the trainee and record this discussion in either the supervisor’s report or annual appraisal form.

ARCP FAQs

Yes we will. Each ARCP session will be delivered remotely via Zoom (or another online platform if necessary) during and after the pandemic.

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