Academic Foundation Programmes provide foundation doctors with the opportunity to develop research, teaching and leadership/management skills in addition to the current basic competences outlined in the curriculum. They are intended to be beneficial to both trainees who plan to go into academic medicine, as well as those who choose a different medical career.

There are a number of different approaches to providing academic training in Foundation Programmes across the UK. In some foundation schools, the academic element will be a discrete four month block of academic training. Elsewhere the academic components will be spread over the two years with regular ’protected time’ for academic education and training. Irrespective of the design of the programme, all academic programmes are set up to enable you to acquire and demonstrate that you have met the competences required for satisfactory completion of the Foundation Programme.

During an Academic Foundation Programme you should use a Foundation Learning Portfolio to plan your learning and collect evidence of your experiences, reflections, assessments and other achievements. The academic foundation programme provides you with an opportunity to develop your research and teaching skills as you prepare for either specialty training, or a Clinical Lectureship in Scotland or an academic clinical fellowship in England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

 The Compendium of Academic Competences has been developed to supplement the Foundation Programme Curriculum. This should help foundation doctors to plan their learning and prepare for specialty training or academic clinical fellowships.

Research and teaching opportunities will vary from programme to programme and academic programmes may have their own requirements. You might like to consider, together with your academic or educational supervisor, whether you would like to develop some of the knowledge, skills and competences in the compendium, how you intend to acquire and how you will know whether you have achieved them.

It may also be useful to you to read the Rough Guide to Academic Foundation Programmes.