Yes, but timescales are currently unknown. It is a major strand of work in the College and we have a digital pathology strategy and committee working on this: https://www.rcpath.org/discover-pathology/public-affairs/digital-pathology.html

Yes, there is an active International Committee and Clinical Director of International Activities. There are six International Advisors, covering the globe, and a range of Country Advisors. The College is currently participating in an EU funded project - ARISE - to improve care in sickle cell and we are partnering with Nigeria in this work. It is International Pathology Day on Wednesday 13 November which you can attend in person or view the roundtable discussion online. There is more information on the College website: https://www.rcpath.org/international.html

The portraits are of our previous Presidents. Over the last few years, the College has opened up elections to all Fellows and you will see that the last and current Presidents are female. The College is encouraging people from all backgrounds to take up roles within the College so do ask about getting involved! You can do so via the Trainees’ Advisory Committee – please see information at: https://www.rcpath.org/profession/committees/trainees-advisory-committee.html.

We have not looked at this in full as yet as the priority is to get the new curriculum and assessment system approved by the GMC first. It is likely that a range of options will be considered and the College may also choose to consult on the change of name. Changing the name of a CCT specialty is a lengthy two-stage process, overseen by the Department of Health. Ideas are welcome!

Mainly cellular pathology (tumours) at the moment although some will be updated soon to other pathology specialty images.

Please email [email protected] and request a code.

Your Deanery should issue you with your NTN. If you do not already have it, speak to your Educational Supervisor or Training Programme Director or contact your Deanery.

The College submits exams data on an annual basis to the GMC. Due to the size of most pathology specialties, there are not enough trainees to reliably review the statistics per Deanery but we do take an overview of exam results in general. The GMC produce results from the National Trainee Survey each year and you can view these by deanery: https://www.gmc-uk.org/education/how-we-quality-assure/national-training-surveys. The College also produces an overview of the exam results per session and you can view the reports here: https://www.rcpath.org/trainees/examinations/examination-results/examination-performance-reports.html

The College does not organise out of UK experiences (these are normally organised via the trainee in conjunction with the training programme) but once such an experience is arranged, you must ensure that it is approved by the GMC in advance of starting the training outside of the UK. Currently, only training approved in advance by the GMC can count towards a CCT. There is a form on the College website for this purpose: https://www.rcpath.org/trainees/training/application-forms.html

The GMC have to approve all dual specialty programme combinations. The only pathology dual training programmes currently approved are medical microbiology or medical virology with internal medicine.

CCT dates are set according to the minimum training time for the specialty. If you take a period of maternity leave your completion date will be adjusted accordingly. The ARCP panel may identify the need for additional or remedial training (Outcomes 2 or 3), which may extend the indicative core training programme end date. Trainees can be given up to a 12 month extension and a further 12 months in exceptional additional time which must be approved by the Postgraduate Dean and such approval will only be granted in exceptional circumstances.

It is a GMC requirement for all trainees to transfer to the most recent curriculum and they have up to two years to do so. The only exception is trainees who are in their last year of training when a new curriculum is introduced. Those trainees are able to remain on their existing curriculum. The College will produce transitional guidance (and in some cases transitional curricula) to guide trainees and trainers about the process. GMC guidance about this is available here: https://www.gmc-uk.org/education/standards-guidance-and-curricula/position-statements/moving-doctors-in-training-to-current-specialty-curricula

You will need to discuss this with your Educational Supervisor and Training Programme Director.

There still has to be a level of progression and so all trainees must have reached level 4 by the time of CCT.

The new cellular pathology curricula will include an Integrated Cellular Pathology Training (ICPT) period for the first two and half years of training. More information about this will be available in due course.

No although these rules are not made by the College. You will still be able to train on a less than full time basis. OOP regulations are also not due to change in general at the current time. There is a possibility that the GMC may remove the requirement for OOP training to have to be approved in advance but this is not yet confirmed so best to continue to obtain prospective approval for any OOP training until then.

It's not yet approved by the GMC as a dual programme.

Medical Microbiology will continue to be available as a GMC- approved single specialty. There continues to be mono-speciality training posts. Each Deanery/Training Programme Director decides what posts (MM, MV, ID/MM, ID/MV, ID/GIM) are available in each recruitment round.

This question is best answered by the JRCPTB. There is lots of information about IM training on their website which is available here: https://www.jrcptb.org.uk/imt

The multi-source feedback (MSF) assessment needs to be taken after a reasonable amount of training time (usually around Month 7) and as ST1 trainees, you will receive feedback on your own self-assessment, your assessors’ and a comparison to the average for the cohort. Therefore, for consistency, the MSF assessment needs to be done within the same timeframe. In future training years, trainees can initiate their own individual MSF assessments but should be done in a timely manner to coincide with the planned ARCP dates. Additional MSF information is available at: https://www.rcpath.org/trainees/assessment/multi-source-feedback-msf.html.

Yes - all of the examination information can be found on the College website: https://www.rcpath.org/trainees/examinations.html

Yes, candidates with a disability who require a reasonable adjustment to the examination must inform the Examinations Department in writing with appropriate supporting evidence outlining the nature of the disability and any recommended adjustments as soon as they know when they wish to attempt the examination, well in advance of the closing date. Please email [email protected].

Information about the Stage A examinations is available on the College website here: https://www.rcpath.org/trainees/examinations/stage-a-examination.html. As with all College examinations, trainees are reminded to read their curriculum which sets out the Stage A requirements and ensure that their training is planned accordingly.

There are sample questions on the exam section of the College website for each specialty: https://www.rcpath.org/trainees/examinations/examinations-by-specialty.html

It depends on the specialty but most Part 1 exams are MCQ/SAQ. Information about the format of the examinations is available on the College website: https://www.rcpath.org/trainees/examinations/examinations-by-specialty.html

The information about the format of the examinations is available on the College website: https://www.rcpath.org/trainees/examinations/examinations-by-specialty.html

Yes, as long as you are keeping up to date with training. You will still need to be signed off by your Educational Supervisor to confirm that you are ready to attempt the exam.

Yes, as long as you are keeping up to date with training. You will still need to be signed off by your Educational Supervisor to confirm that you are ready to attempt the exam.

The certificate in medical genetics is for clinical genetics trainees who have their own curriculum - this is a specialty overseen by the JRCPTB: https://www.jrcptb.org.uk/specialties/clinical-genetics

For the next few years it is being held at the College.

Yes, each trainee can have up to six attempts at each part of the exam. However, attempts five and six must be considered by the Mitigating Circumstances Panel and approved by the RCPath Council.

The question banks are developed for the examination – they take time and money to develop and questions are often re-used for subsequent examinations and are therefore not made available. There are sample questions on the exam section of the College website for each specialty: https://www.rcpath.org/trainees/examinations/examinations-by-specialty.html. Your Educational Supervisor and senior trainees in your department will be able to advise you about appropriate texts to support your learning.

There are currently no plans to make existing subspecialties into post-CCT credentials. However, the FRCPath exams in general examine and map to the content of the CCT curricula.