News and Opportunities

Breaking news

Image of a solar prominence, from wikipaedia

• We hope you are all enjoying and surviving the current heatwave! Make sure you know how to advise your patients to stay well, by having a look at the BLF’s guidance on looking after yourself in the hot weather for those with a chronic lung disease. And why not read up on the effects of changes in weather and humidity in one of these interesting papers?
  • Michelozzi, P., Accetta, G., De Sario, M., D’Ippoliti, D., Marino, C., Baccini, M., Biggeri, A., Anderson, H.R., Katsouyanni, K., Ballester, F. and Bisanti, L., 2009. High temperature and hospitalizations for cardiovascular and respiratory causes in 12 European cities. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 179(5), pp.383-389.
  • Hayes Jr, D., Collins, P.B., Khosravi, M., Lin, R.L. and Lee, L.Y., 2012. Bronchoconstriction triggered by breathing hot humid air in patients with asthma: role of cholinergic reflex. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 185(11), pp.1190-1196.
  • Lin, S., Luo, M., Walker, R.J., Liu, X., Hwang, S.A. and Chinery, R., 2009. Extreme high temperatures and hospital admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Epidemiology, pp.738-746.
  • Bernstein, A.S. and Rice, M.B., 2013. Lungs in a warming world: climate change and respiratory health. Chest, 143(5), pp.1455-1459.
• We will soon be looking for a new trainee Rep as LJ is (hopefully) CCT-ing in February. Could this be you? Get in touch to express an interest and learn more about the role. Process of appointment to be confirmed.
• We have a date confirmed for the next NET Training Day at Newham University Hospital on 3rd September, with a focus on leadership and management. See below for other confirmed training days.
• Please remember that if you need to contact HEE, there is now a PGMDE support portal. They are quick to reply to messages on the portal and you can track your ‘tickets’. Please use this for any ‘deanery’ type queries (including ensuring they have the correct CCT date etc)
• We are in the process of writing a brief guidance on: how to prepare for CCT. What else would be useful? Let us know.

Respiratory Training Programme

• We have had some excellent training days recently. Why don’t you ask your clinical lead to confirm the date for the training day at your hospital? Why not offer to help find a speaker or two, or suggest a topic to help make it relevant to your training needs?
  • Aug no training day (holidays)
  • Sep 3rd: Newham University Hospital (Barts Health) – themed on management and leadership 
  • Oct 26th: Homerton University Hospital (plus Bronch training at Royal Free for new ST3s)
  • Nov ?Pan-London training day?
  • Dec no training day (Winter BTS)
  • Jan Barts Health (Barts and the London) – date tbc
  • Feb: Royal Free/partners?
  • March: UCLH – date tbc 
  • April: Barking and Havering (Queens/King George)?
  • May: North Mid?
  • June: Whittington Health

This is our current list of topics we suggest are covered in the next few training days:

• tracheostomy care
• optiflow (evidence, indications)
• Radiology – bring back the quizzes
• pulmonary rehab – evidence, quality, impact
• sarcoidosis management
• palliative care – pharma/non-pharma management, evidence
• management and leadership
• QIP workshop – using national data to effect local change
• landmark studies in….
• ambulatory management of….
• what I expect an SpR to know about….

All these dates are supposed to be on synapse, and we are supposed to sign up for them in the same way as GIM days. Unfortunately there is no relevant information on the Respiratory page of synapse (Dashboard -> Respiratory Medicine –> NENC Regional Training days). For now, please just turn up and sign in on paper as usual.

GIM Training Programme

• Please remember to look on synapse, on this page, under NENC GIM Regional Training Day for info on GIM days.  Synapse continues to be awful to navigate but is is the only place to get information. As a reminder, to give yourself the best chance of getting GIM training day info you need to:Click ‘My profile’, Under ‘My training programmes’ click ‘Add another’, There select ‘KSS Schools of Medicine’ and in the next drop box ‘General internal medicine north sector’. Once you have logged in you can use this link to find the page with the dates on. Please do log your frustrations about Synapse via the trainee portal.
• The next monthly acute medicine teaching sessions, run by registrars for registrars at UCLP on Tottenham Court Road on the 2nd Thursday of every month 4-6pm, Tottenham Court Road. Book via Eventbrite.
• A number of UCLP training sessions are available, focused on professional development. These include sessions on quality improvement, leadership, self-care and resilience, and cultural health factors.  Find details, dates and links to book via Eventbrite on the UCLP pages. The trainee Reps have been on several of these so ask them about which ones were particularly good.

External/Additional Training

• Upcoming Teach-Ins at the Royal College of Physicians include: Respiratory Medicine (organised by Dr Swapna Mandal of RFH, so sure to be a great programme) on 2nd October; Infectious Disease and HIV on 6th November;and Rheumatology on 4th December.  The RCP are streaming some events, including Teach-ins, and has an archive so you can catch up with events you missed.
• Sign up to the PLAN (Pan-London Airways Network) newsletter to hear of free educational events open to the entire Respiratory MDT. A great opportunity to learn alongside MDT colleagues and sign-off curriculum competencies – why not invite your specialist nurse and physio colleagues?
• Follow @resptrainees and take a look at the Respiratory Futures Trainees website. Resources are being added all the time, and a podcast series on Respiratory careers is planned for the end of this year. Recommend your own resources and share the love with your fellow Respiratory trainees
• HEE (what was The London Deanery eons ago) provide some funded courses, free career advice and individual support. Make the most of these great opportunities by having a look at the website and booking yourself onto something
  • Occupational Lung Disease: keeping up to date. 20th September. £175 including handout, lunch and refreshments; reduced rate for those in training (details available on request).
  • Introductory Medical Statistics: 2 day course. 27th-28th September. Just £175 for trainees.
  • A number of courses are being run this year by the team at the Brompton HospitalAltered Airway Workshop Day on Safe Management of Airway stents, laryngectomy and tracheostomy patients. 30th October. Free for Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust staff, £60 for non-staff applicants.

Jobs/OOP/Opportunities

• Coming up to CCT? All Consultant jobs are advertised on the NHS jobs site, which will send you updates if you set up your preferences. Remember that can interview within 6 months of your CCT date.
• The ERS has a number of fellowships on offer. Keep an eye out for interesting opportunities.
• The BTS highlights a number of funding opportunities relevant to Respiratory trainees on its’ pages.
• Remember that even if specific research jobs are not advertised, Consultants with academic positions are always looking for enthusiastic SpRs to join them. They may have pots of money for projects, or may have ideas that could become an MD/PhD. You’ll never know if you don’t ask. Ask around, and get in touch with anyone on the research pages for more info. Wondering whether you want to pursue a future in academic Respiratory medicine? Why not watch the BTS video featuring Dr John Hurst?

Pan-London STC

• Please get in touch to raise issues you want us to bring up at the next STC meeting. In the new model, with HEE at the helm, we are meeting with all London TPDs.  Let us know what concerns you so we can be an effective trainee voice on the committee.
• We will be looking for a new trainee Rep as LJ is CCT-ing in February. Could this be you? Get in touch to learn more about the role.

Conferences

• ERS 15-19th Sep (Paris)
• PCRS 28-29th Sep (Telford)
• BTS Winter 5-7th Dec (London)

Other

• Please send us info on your current or previous jobs directly by email, or through the updated and shorter anonymous update form. If you are currently out of programme please send information on your most recent, most liked or most hated post!
• Please remember that since April 1st there is a new policy on study leave, as part of HEE’s initiative ‘Enhancing Junior Doctors’ Working Lives‘. HEE will be managing the Study Leave budget centrally through its local offices. There are 3 levels of courses which are defined for each specialty: Curriculum Mandated, Curriculum Optional and Aspirational. These lists have been compiled by Heads of Schools and Training Programme directors with oversight and approval of the Post Graduate Deans. You can find the approved lists, and details on the process of applying on the HEE website
• We have updated some sections including FAQs. Are you having problems with your Educational Supervisor not fulfilling the essential duties of their role? Read HEE’s guidance on how to escalate
• Please make sure you arrange your placements in Pulmonary HTN, CF, OcLD, and your management course so that they are spread out throughout your training. They should not all be done in the last year, and there are advantages to taking some earlier, pre-SCE. Have a look at FAQs on tips on how to arrange.