This is an update on December 15th 2020 to state where matters are.

The curriculum is now fully written and agreed by the General Medical Council, but it is not yet formally signed off and published. There will be a launch event in February 2021, date to be fixed. It will be notified on this blog and to the Trainee representatives.

The Rough Guide is now fully written, and is also with the General Medical Council who decided that they wished to review each speciality’s Rough Guide. We do not anticipate any problems, and once it is agreed, then it will be put on-line next to the curriculum. Both should be available at the JRCPTB website. The Rough Guide can and will be updated as necessary, and this does not require authorisation from the General Medical Council.

The syllabus is being developed, and the hope is to have a reasonable draft ready by mid-February 2021. The working party is making good progress, all things considered, and it is still evolving in its details. It will be an indicative guide, suggesting how to learn, what to learn, and how to assess the depth of knowledge and skills acquired. The draft will go out for consultation. We hope it will be ready for review and agreement by the May 2021 meeting of the Specialist Advisory Committee. It will also be published alongside the curriculum and Rough Guide, and it also can be changed in the light of experience.

The e-portfiolio has yet to be adopted, and this process is expected to start in early 2021 (no dates given yet). We will be involved, and the trainee representatives will be kept in touch.

The Penultimate Year Assessment, which is a name only used by the colleges of Physicians, is being reviewed at present. There almost certainly will be a review process one year before the anticipated end of training, and it is likely, I think, to be on the e-portfolio. At present no more is known.

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