Tuesday, 4 September, 2018

A special summer Board Meeting was held to discuss the Medical Council’s report on the “Programme of Specialist Training in Intensive Care Medicine”.   This Accreditation report has been received by the Joint Faculty after the Council’s last (May) meeting. The conclusions or primary recommendations of this report were that the Programme of Specialist Training in Intensive Care Medicine and the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine of Ireland (JFICMI) should be approved by (the Medical) council on condition:

• That the first full training cycle must be completed leading to the award of a Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training to each successful graduate of the programme.

There were four other ‘priority recommendations’

• Clarify and publish selection criteria for candidates entering the programme,
• Set milestones for trainees / trainers,
• Use regular, multi-source feedback in the assessment of candidates
• Adopt an expanded role for the extern examiner at the FJFICMI examination.

The Board of the Joint Faculty debated the report in full and the conclusion and recommendations were accepted and welcomed. Those who had been involved in collating the re-submission of the Training Programme and in representing the Joint Faculty at the Medical Council were commended.

The Board reviewed the considerations relating to the Action and Implementation plan required by the Medical Council and this will be completed and returned to the Medical Council by its due date in September.  An invitation to meet the Medical Council to discuss the plan is then anticipated.

Other issues discussed were the need to open the Specialist Register for Intensive Care Medicine and (at a minimum) admit Trainers to the Specialist Register; also, given that the completion of the ‘first full cycle leading to the award of CSCST (in ICM)’ is anticipated in 2021, the need to continue to represent the interests of current trainees and those who have been in training since the programme started in July 2014.