The Royal Colleges of Physicians have revised the core curriculum for SHOs
in medicine and the medical specialties to make it objective based. The obj
ectives, knowledge, skills and attitudes for 'core skills' use ward based a
nd outpatient clinical scenarios in specialty areas. There are also importa
nt sections on 'generic skills' including communication skills, team-workin
g skills etc., cross-specialty areas, training in practical procedures and
selection of investigations.
Only in up to 41% of posts do SHOs in medicine get regular appraisal. A new
appraisal replacing the personal training record has been designed to help
SHOs reflect on their experience and identify gaps in their training using
the revised curriculum.
The new edition of the core curriculum should also allow the RCPs to set st
andards on the assessment of competence of SHOs to inform the postgraduate
deans' SHO RITA process.