Assessing the preparedness of foundation year 1 (FY1) doctors during the transition from medical school to the foundation training programme.

BACKGROUND

To assess how ready current FY1 doctors felt when starting their first posting as newly qualified doctors.

METHODS

We created an online survey where 45 FY1 doctors in South Yorkshire rated how confident they were across different domains (Induction and Assistantship, Hospital Systems, and Skills) using a scale ranging from 0 (no confidence performing task) to 5 (highly confident).

RESULTS

The ICE system and observations had a mean rating of 3.645 (95% CI 3.446 to 3.844), and 4.425 (95% CI 4.248 to 4.602) with a standard deviation (SD) of 1.10 and 0.83 respectively. The radiological platform, referral system, telephone system, and hospital notes had a mean score of 3.149 (95% CI 2.876 to 3.422), 2.340 (95% CI 2.096 to 2.584), 3.573 (95% CI 3.407 to 3.739) and 4.061 (95% CI 3.931 to 4.191), with a SD of 1.281, 1.153, 0.961 and 0.752 respectively. Patient needs and diagnostic procedures had a mean score of 3.933 (95% CI 3.749 to 4.117) and 4.250 (95% CI 4.140 to 4.360) with a SD of 1.190 and 0.944 respectively. Patient care, prescribing, and therapeutic procedures gave a mean score of 3.634 (95% CI 3.432 to 3.836), 4.130 (95% CI 3.959 to 4.301), 3.386 (95% CI 3.228 to 3.544) with a SD of 1.133, 0.958 and 1.256 respectively. No statistically significant difference in the overall mean score was found between respondents who attended medical schools in Yorkshire, and those who had not.

CONCLUSION

Overall, confidence differs across different domains and categories. A larger sample size across a wider geographical area would allow us to compare and contrast results across the different regions in the UK.