Time is a funny thing, it feels like no time at all since we launched Progress+ in August 2023. On the other hand it feels as though Progress+ has always been with us.
As we celebrate the first birthday of the launch, a few reflections
The transition from a three-level, eight-year programme to a two-level, seven-year one has gone relatively smoothly. This is in no small part down to the hard work and enthusiasm of the Paediatric Schools and particularly the Training Programme Directors, whose organisation skills and mastery of spreadsheets were tested to the limits! Huge thanks to them all!
More than just an administrative shuffle of posts, schools have started to take the flexible ethos of Progress+ to heart. They have crafted new Core training pathways with examples of innovative integrated care posts, early exposure to community child health and supported, structured earlier step up to tier 2 rotas.
Trainees are being supported to evidence mental health capabilities by learning from cases on the wards and there are some great examples of shared learning with mental health, primary care and public health colleagues across the regions. This will build relationships for future working together and will benefit child health going forwards.
Longitudinal supervision is becoming more embedded, and as trainees and their supervisors develop longer-term relationships, this enables more thoughtful coverage of the whole curriculum and encourages a more reflective approach to training. Being able to maintain an overview of training through a level and to have ongoing discussions about progression and acquisition of both capabilities and experience feeds into a more personalised training pathway and meaningful capability-based progression. Career aims, both short and long term, are part of the regular supervision agenda, again feeding into the flexibility and individual benefits of Progress+.
Of course, like any one-year old, Progress+ has both its delights and its challenges
Talking of challenges, I don’t underestimate the ePortfolio issues. Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to mitigate these.
The big challenge of a high level curriculum is to ensure coverage of the curriculum in breadth and depth with the right level of granularity, flexible for each trainee’s needs, and not associated with an unsustainable assessment burden while reliably preparing trainees for consultant working. This depends on good educational supervision working with trainees as adult learners and facilitated by good local supervision and teaching.
We have taken away the tick box approach to training. But much as tick boxes were bemoaned, it turns out they are missed when they are gone! Our forthcoming assessment review will endeavour to give a good framework without a return to unhelpful tick boxes.
I am still excited by Progress+ and I have had far more conversations this year about the potential of Progress+ to deliver than I have had about any difficulties. A year in, and it’s not just about potential….there has been real change and I am confident that its just the start of a brave new world of paediatric training.
So cut yourself a slice of pink birthday cake and help us celebrate Progress+ at one year!