Trainee Support

The change from being a medical student to being a doctor is not a small step. So, like all other doctors before you, you will probably find several challenges, from learning new skills, to getting used to new work practices, as well as to deal with frustrating bureaucracy and handle hierarchies within your profession and others. You will gradually become adept at asking for help and delegating, recognizing how much you have still to learn, and manage expectations on your time and energy at work and outside. And of course there are the challenges that come with actually looking after patients, with learning how to manage the responsibility of taking clinical decisions and affecting peoples' wellbeing.

At the start of your new career as a doctor, this can be overwhelming and it is quite common to feel bewildered, or even a bit frightened. Everyone handles these experiences differently, but we assure you that all of the senior doctors who might seem so assured and knowledgeable to your eyes have been through pretty much the same experiences and doubts that you will go through in your first few months as a doctor.

At the start of your new career as a doctor, this can be overwhelming and it is quite common to feel bewildered, or even a bit frightened. Everyone handles these experiences differently, but we assure you that all of the senior doctors who might seem so assured and knowledgeable to your eyes have been through pretty much the same experiences and doubts that you will go through in your first few months as a doctor.

On occasion, new doctors find that their situation does not improve with time and experience. Some doctors might feel that they have an insurmountable problem either at work or in their personal life that is affecting their ability to function as a doctor. Other doctors may be suffering from physical or emotional health difficulties. Any doctor who feels in need of additional guidance and support can approach the Trainee Support Team, through the Foundation Programme. If a trainee's particular situation has led to difficulties at the workplace, or has resulted in unprofessional behaviour, or threatened patient safety, it might well be that these difficulties will have been recognized by some of the people the trainee works with, and that the Foundation Programme's Trainee Support Team (TST) will have been alerted through feedback to the Foundation Programme.

The Trainee Support Team will explore the circumstances of any referral, to clarify the nature of the difficulties and any underlying causes. Through a range of internal and external services and support, the Trainee Support Team may guide the trainee towards an action plan that would also include the necessary goals to be reached by the trainee to maintain the standards expected of all doctors. Throughout this process, trainee confidentiality will be strictly respected according to professional guidelines, and the trainee will be kept informed of all progress.

Dr Etienne Muscat

Associate Foundation Programme Director - Lead Trainee Support Team

TST Members:

Dr Anna Spiteri

Foundation Training Programme Director - Support Behavioural skills arm TST

 

 

 Dr Antoine Vella

Foundation Training Programme Director - Support Clinical Competence arm TST