Which deanery to choose

These publications can be for any research, articles or letters that have resulted in a PubMed ID number. Any publications need to be published before the closing date of application and must give you a PubMed ID.

If your publication does not result in a PubMed ID or if during the application process the ID number that you provide does not link your publication, you will not be awarded the additional points. It is possible to link your application to an applicant in order to get allocated to the same deanery.

But it is important to remember that the lower of the two scores will be used for allocation, and links will not be possible if either applicant accepts an AFP offer or applies with special circumstances. AFP gives Foundation Doctors the opportunity to spend allocated time to gain academic experience. There are generally three types of AFPs:. You can apply for a maximum of two different deaneries, with each deanery having its own shortlisting process. Some deaneries use white-space questions where the applicants have the opportunity to write why they are suited for the role.

Other deaneries, for example those in London, rely on a points based system in order to shortlist applicants for interviews. FPP was a recently introduced initiative that gave applicants the opportunity to apply for Foundations jobs in areas that typically struggled to attract or retain doctors. FPPs can offer many benefits such as experience abroad, financial incentives, leadership, medical education and more experience in specific specialities.

Accepting offers and withdrawing works exactly the same way as AFP. The PFF allows applicants with interest in Psychiatry to have more exposure to it during their foundation training as well as supporting them when applying for specialty training post in Psychiatry. It gives trainees additional access to Psychiatry educational opportunities e.

All Foundation schools have PFF posts and applicants must provide an academic CV and a supporting statement when applying. Majority of applicants will be allocated to one of their choices and placed on the primary list. Choosing your deanery is essentially choosing which region of the country you want to live and work in.

This year, the online application forms were available on Oriel on Monday 30th September and the application period closed at noon BST on Friday 11th October The national application form is divided into 11 sections, one of which is preferences. This enables you to state your preferred FP and therefore deanery. Applicants must rank all 20 foundation schools as part of the online application form for FP.

With only 1 place per three applicants many hopeful junior doctors miss out on their first choice every year. With having multiple teaching hospitals across several cities such as Manchester and Liverpool, the North West of England Foundation School attracts many applicants. However, with having the second highest number of F1 posts only 26 less than the whole of Scotland! This means that while a small handful of applicants will not get their first choice, most who apply will.

Usually averaging around just over one, most applicants will get their place. However, With the ratio normally sitting just below one, more often than not, all applicants who place Northern Ireland as their first choice will get their place.

Being a close neighbour to the highly competitive School in London, Oxford tends to be quite competitive, with and having a ratio of 1. However, in the ratio dropped to a low 0. This makes it hard to predict which direction the competition will go in , but its likely to stay at a 1.

Peninsula shows some of the largest variations in competition ratios. Previous years as far back as often saw Peninsula sitting as one of the least competitive Foundation Schools. However this year saw a ratio almost at 1, with with a ratio over 1.

This makes the ratios for hard to predict, and if the ratios remain high, new junior doctors may be left disappointed. Being the Foundation School with the most places on offer, the Scotland Foundation School takes on over new F1s a year. But with many posts come many applicants, giving a relatively constant competition ratio of around one.

If Scotland is your first choice, then you have a very high chance of getting your place! But with having one of the lower numbers of F1 posts this sends the Competition Ratios up. While not being as high as London Foundation Schools it has one of the highest ratios most years, sometimes reaching as high as 1. Covering a large part of London as well as Kent, Surrey and Sussex, the South Thames Foundation Schools has one of the highest intake numbers each year.

This way you at least gave yourself the chance to get the one you really wanted. Equality This section asks you to provide your age, gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs and whether you consider yourself to have a disability.

Declarations Here there are several declarations that require you to confirm you have read and understood them, before you can submit your application. The SJT is a test designed to assess the professional attributes expected of a Foundation Doctor, and is worth a whopping 50 out of the possible points that determine your national rank.

Despite this, it is worth emphasising that there is no need to and no point in panicking! The questions take the form of a clinical scenario and ask you, as an F1 , to decide which would be the most appropriate action or important consideration in each situation.

Honestly, this is a really difficult test to prepare for. The best advice I can give for the SJT is to do the practice paper available on the foundation programme website. This will acquaint you with the types of questions asked, familiarise you with the answer sheet, and allow you to practice time-keeping. The people who walk out of the exam hall distraught are generally those who ran out of time — lots of points can be lost this way. There are also numerous books out there with endless practice questions.

Be sure to get one that has good reviews, as some are a better representation of the real thing than others. Another important piece of advice and easier said than done is not to stress too much about it. Applications are processed for all candidates who submitted an FP application and did not accept an AFP offer. Applicants are then ranked in score order, and the ranks used to allocate each candidate to a foundation school.

In rank order, each applicant will be allocated to their highest preference where a place is available. Once allocated to a foundation school, applicants rank the individual two year programmes available in that school. Foundation schools should release statistics, including the score distribution of its accepted applicants.

This is useful to get an idea of where you stand within your cohort, and by extension how many programmes you should rank.