PMST policies

Yes, you do. Please contact FPM’s Specialty Training Manager and give them your maternity leave start date and expected return date. Your training will be put on pause when you start your maternity leave and the Specialty Training Manager will schedule a new date for your ARCP (if necessary) when you return from leave and resume your training.

You are still required to pay FPM’s annual PMST fee before or during maternity leave. However, you may be invoiced a partial fee. When you return from maternity leave and resume training, you may also need to pay a remainder of the fee.

You must continue to pay your annual FPM membership subscription while you are on maternity leave. Failure to do so can lead to the deactivation of your FPM membership and removal of your national training number (NTN) in pharmaceutical medicine. You might be eligible to apply for FPM’s concessionary rate – please visit FPM’s membership fees and payments information for details.

You might be able to go out of programme on a career break (OOPC). A trainee may need to pause their training because they are between jobs; still waiting to be assigned an educational supervisor; or need their company approved as a training site.

You must write to the postgraduate dean and request OOPC before you pause your training. You must state in your written request:

1. why you are requesting OOPC;
2. confirm that your ES (if applicable) supports your OOPC request; and
3. the expected start and end date of your OOPC.

If the postgraduate dean approves your OOPC request, it will normally be for an initial period of 12 months unless you have requested less time. If you require an extension to your OOPC, you must write to the postgraduate dean and request an extension before the end of your first period of OOPC. You must state why you are requesting an extension and when you expect to resume training.

If the postgraduate dean approves your OOPC request, your training will put on pause and you must not continue uploading evidence of your curriculum competencies on to your e-portfolio. You will still be required to attend your ARCP as this is your annual appraisal for revalidation as well as the process for reviewing your progress on the PMST programme. While you are out of programme, you must collect supporting information covering your full scope of work for the purposes of revalidation. This information must be uploaded to your e-portfolio personal library where it will be reviewed at your ARCP to ensure that you are keeping up to date.

You will not be invoiced for the annual PMST fee (if applicable), but you will still be required to pay FPM’s annual membership subscription fee. Failure to maintain your FPM membership or your GMC registration with a licence to practise could lead to the removal of your NTN or referral to the GMC for non-engagement with the revalidation process.

You might be able to, but you must first contact the Specialty Training Manager at least two months before you start your post and complete and return the out of programme training (OOPT) request form. The postgraduate dean must support your OOPT request before the Pharmaceutical Medicine Deanery can prepare an OOPT application to the GMC. You and your educational supervisor may be required to provide the postgraduate dean and/or Joint Royal College of Physicians Training Board (JRCPTB) with information about your proposed training plan.

If the postgraduate dean supports your request for OOPT, the Pharmaceutical Medicine Deanery will complete an OOPT application, which must be endorsed by the JRCPTB before it can be submitted to the GMC for approval. The GMC will only consider prospective OOPT applications, so it is important that you inform the Pharmaceutical Medicine Deanery as early as possible or otherwise your training will not count towards your CCT.

You will still be required to maintain your GMC registration with a licence, attend your ARCP and pay your annual PMST fee and FPM membership subscription. Failure to any one of these things could lead to the removal of your NTN and/or a referral to the GMC for non-engagement with the revalidation process.

You must:

• have a named educational supervisor;
• inform the Specialty Training Manager;
• complete the continuation of training form and individualised PMST programme form with your educational supervisor; and
• return your completed forms to the Specialty Training Manager.

You should return your completed forms to the Specialty Training Manager at least two months after starting work at your new company.

You must:

• have a named educational supervisor;
• inform the Specialty Training Manager;
• arrange for a Specialty Adviser to visit your company to assess its suitability to be approved by the GMC as a training site;
• arrange for your company and/or the Specialty Adviser to complete the PMST training site self-assessment form;
• complete the continuation of training form and individualised PMST programme form with Educational Supervisor; and
• return your completed forms to the Specialty Training Manager.

It is likely that you will have to go out of programme career break (OOPC) until:

1. the Deanery has approved the PMST training site self-assessment form;
2. sent a training site approval application to the GMC; and
3. the GMC has approved your company as a training site.

You must:

• have a named educational supervisor;
• inform the Specialty Training Manager at least two months before you start your new overseas job;
• complete the ‘Out of Programme Training Request Form’ with your educational supervisor; and
• return your completed form with supporting documentary information to the Specialty Training Manager.

Your continued training outside the UK must be approved by the GMC as out of programme training (OOPT) before you start your new overseas job.

If the GMC does not approve your OOPT prospectively, you will not be able to count your overseas training towards your completion of the PMST programme.

The Deanery’s OOPT application to the GMC will normally be for an initial period of 12 months. If you require an extension, you must inform the Specialty Training Manager one month before your first period of OOPT ends.

The decision to grant you a 12-month extension is at the discretion of the postgraduate dean.

Trainees are expected to complete at least 50% of their training in UK – this includes their first year on the PMST programme.

It is possible to continue training outside the UK, but this training must be approved by the GMC prospectively as out of  programme training (OOPT).

If the postgraduate dean supports a request for OOPT, then it will normally be for an initial period of 12 months. A trainee must send the postgraduate dean a written request for a further extension to their OOPT.

It is at the postgraduate dean’s discretion whether to support a 12-month extension to the trainee’s OOPT.