PMETB statement on MTAS
From Mmc
PMETB statement on MTAS
1. In the light of recent events, PMETB felt it would be helpful to those involved in training and selection to issue the following statement. The Board understands that this is a difficult time for those trainees applying to specialist training programmes. To date we have not felt it would be helpful to trainees to make any public statement about action we have been taking. With the announcement of the review group proposals a statement of our position could now be helpful to all concerned.
2. PMETB has been concerned about the issues raised in relation to implementation of MTAS as part of the new selection process for entry to specialist medical training. We are also aware of an emerging picture of different experience both across the UK and between different specialties, with implementation apparently progressing well in some areas and specialties.
3. PMETB welcomed the establishment of a review of the implementation process. We wrote immediately to the Chairman of the review group asking him to bring to our attention any evidence which he believed might cause concerns in relation to our Principles for Entry to Specialist Training and which might precipitate regulatory action, or which should be considered as part of our review process in due course.
4. PMETB was concerned about the absence of facts which might help to establish a more accurate picture and assist trainees at this time and made this concern known to officials. We therefore welcomed the announcement on March 16th which was accompanied by some clarification of the ratio of applications to posts.
5. It is clear that there is some confusion over the roles and responsibilities of the different organisations and groups involved in postgraduate medical education. We therefore felt it would be helpful to clarify the position and bring together in one place relevant information that has been in the public domain for some time.
6. PMETB is an independent, UK-wide body with statutory powers over the content and standards of postgraduate medical education. It is responsible for approving specialist training curricula and assessments which are devised and submitted to us by the medical Royal Colleges. PMETB is responsible for quality assurance and evaluation of the management of postgraduate training. PMETB is also responsible for the prospective approval of all training posts that lead to the award of a Certificate of Completion of Training. We set the overarching principles under which selection into specialist training must operate.
7. PMETB is not concerned with the operational aspects of selection. We are aware of the review group’s proposal, informed by experience, to change the selection process. We see no impediment to this change, provided that the process still meets our overarching principles.
8. PMETB has no responsibility for workforce issues, including the number of training posts.
9. Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) is a UK-wide project to streamline and rationalise the structure (but not the content) of postgraduate training. It has implemented the Foundation Programme and, from 1 August 2007, will implement new structures for specialist training. MMC is quite separate from PMETB but its structures must be compliant with PMETB’s overarching principles.
10. The Medical Training Application Service (MTAS) is a new, a UK-wide process which includes an electronic registration and recruitment form. The substance of the application was determined by UK Postgraduate Deans and informs the selection process for entry to specialist training which they manage. A similar system has been operating successfully in the USA for over half a century.
11. PMETB reviewed the framework for delivery of the Medical Training Application Service (MTAS) and the developmental work underpinning the selection methodology in August 2006, against the relevant sections of our standards and principles. In our formal response to the implementation group’s presentation we noted that:
a. the overarching strategy broadly met our Principles for Entry;
b. there were challenges in introducing such a new system and that we had been reassured that these were being considered;
c. ultimately, PMETB would wish to revisit and review the operation of the new system, once it had been established, against our Principles for Entry to Specialist Training and in the context of our statutory responsibilities.
12. PMETB reaffirms its intention to undertake a review of MTAS 2007 against our Principles at the end of the selection process. This will be prospective, looking forward to 2008 and learning from the whole of the selection process in 2007.
