RCOG Postgraduate Training and

Quality Assurance
Kim Scrivener
Senior Director, Education &
Assessment, RCOG

© Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

 Senior Director,
Education & Assessment
• MRCOG and DRCOG
• UK training
• Curricula and assessments
• Education resources – ePortfolio and
eLearning
• Trainer support and recognition
• Continuing Professional Development
• Education governance and quality assurance
© Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
 Content
• RCOG
• Overview of O&G training programme
• Quality assurance of training
• Progression through programme
• Support for trainees
• Current projects

© Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

 Our mission

• The College’s mission is “to set

standards to improve women’s
health and the clinical practice of
Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the
British Isles and across the world”

• Our charitable objectives are to

“encourage the study, and advance
the science and practice, of
obstetrics and gynaecology.”
© Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
What do we actually do?

• Set clinical standards in women’s health

• Provide the curricula for doctors wanting to
specialise in obstetrics and gynaecology
• Act as an examination and assessment body
• Support professional development of O&G
specialists through their careers
• Assess and report on clinical quality & safety of
hospitals
• Build capacity and deliver education programmes
throughout the world
© Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
© Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
The UK General Medical
Council
• Approves all applications for entry onto the
Specialist Register at ST7 – Certificate of
Completion of Training (CCT)

• Approves all curricula and exams and changes

• Sets standards for curricula and assessment

• Monitors UK trainee progress

• Role of royal colleges © Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

How does the College
quality assure training?
• Creates and maintains education standards approved by the
GMC
– Curricula (Core, 4 x Subspec, 19 Advanced Training Skills
Modules (ATSM), academic, ultrasound, Advanced
Professional Module)
– Exams and workplace-based assessment
• Policy for all stages of training overseen by formal committees
(e.g. Education Board)
• Involved in progression of trainees (Annual Review of
Competence Progression, Matrix)
• Recommends doctors to GMC for Certificate of Completion of
Training © Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
E&A Committees

© Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

How do trainees progress
through the programme?
• Sign-off curriculum competencies and
workplace-based assessments (WBA) in 19
modules over 7 years on ePortfolio
• Waypoints and Matrix (specify requirements
for WBA and other aspects of training)
• Satisfactory outcome at Annual Review (ARCP)
• Pass MRCOG Part 1, 2 and 3
• ST7 and CCT
© Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
Page from the Core
Curriculum

© Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

Annual Review of Competence
Progression (ARCP)
• Formal annual assessment (ARCP) –
at the end of each training year
based on the Gold Guide
• ARCP panel: Head of School, Lay
Representative, RCOG Specialist
Assessor
• RCOG resources used:
– Training Matrix of educational
progression
– ARCP Guidance
– ePortfolio
• Specific Outcomes for progression
or not © Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
 What are workplace-
based assessments?
• Workplace-based assessments (WBAs) are
used to evaluate your progression through the
specialty training programme
• WBAs are used to identify strengths and
weaknesses as well as competence
• Three types of WBA
– Objective structured assessment of technical skill
– Case-based discussion
– Mini-clinical evaluation exercise
© Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
What support do trainees
get?
• ePortfolio to record all assessments
• Education Supervisor – GMC accredited
• Training Programme Director/Head of School
• College Tutor
• StratOG – 96 core eLearning tutorials

© Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

ePortfolio

© Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

 RCOG Training ePortfolio:
Layout/functionality
• Main usage falls into three areas:

– Curriculum / Logbook

– Forms (Assessments)

– Log of Experience (Educational Logs and

Reflection)

© Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

StratOG for lifelong learning

 283 tutorials

 11,500+ pages of content

 over 300
contributors/reviewers

 a benefit of membership,
but anyone can purchase

© Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

How has RCOG improved the quality of
training?
• Support and resources for trainers
• Training Evaluation Form (for trainees)
• Education Quality Assurance Committee
• Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
• Revised curricula

© Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

 Current projects in
Education

• New core curriculum from August 2019

• Accreditation of overseas training
• New CPD Framework
• MRCOG Improvement Programme
• MRCOG in China!

© Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists