Deanery The regional unit of postgraduate medical
education delivery, supervised by a
Postgraduate Dean.
DEN Doctors Educational Need BMJ/DEN
DH/DOH Department of Health (separate department for
each UK country).
England
Scotland
Wales
Northern Ireland
DOPS Direct Observation of Procedural Skills
DPGPE Director of Postgraduate General Practice
Education (may be called the GP Dean). The
senior doctor responsible for all postgraduate
GP education and training in a deanery.
DRCOG Diploma of the Royal College of Obstetrics and
Gynaecology
Educational
Programme
See Training Programme
Educational Contract The contract given to a GPStR at the start of a
training post which explains what particular
educational training and experience the post
should give to the trainee.
Educational Supervisor The clinical educator responsible for making
sure a GPStR receives appropriate training and
experience, and their progress through the full
three year training programme.
EURACT European Academy of Teachers in General
Practice
EURACT
e-Portfolio An electronic record of specialty training,
updated and accessible through the internet. It
records details of achievement in the AKT and
CSA and documents all stages of training,
records evidence of WPBA reviews with
educational supervisors and the subsequent
development as a General Practitioner.
RCGP/e-portfolio
Equivalent Experience GP training not undertaken to the format and
content defined by legislation: ceased to exist
in Sept 2005 when PMETB became the
competent authority.
Formative Assessment The process of individual review of a GP
Registrar's educational and training needs at
the commencement and during training, so that
the training addresses the issues necessary to
achieve a CCT.
F1 –F2 Foundation year 1 (F1) and Foundation year 2
(F2) make up the two-year Foundation
Programme which all UK medical graduates
are required to undertake before progressing to
specialty or GP training.
MMC/Foundation
Programme
FP Family Planning Family Planning
Association
GMC General Medical Council GMC
GMP Good Medical Practice GMC/GMP
Gold Guide A guide for deaneries to all aspects of specialty
training. Will replace the previous orange and
green guides.
GPEC General Practice Education Committee – a
deanery committee that manages GP
education and has representation from all
levels of GP educator and trainee.
GPStR
General Practice Specialty Registrar - junior
doctor in any one of three years of specialty
training for general practice.
IMG International Medical Graduate
ITP Integrated / Innovative training post: more and
more GPs are training in these non standard
and very relevant posts which are generally
based in general practice with day release to
outpatient clinics and community medicine.
JCPTGP Joint Committee on Postgraduate Training in
General Practice. PMETB took over the
functions of the JCPTGP on 30 September
2005.
MADEL Medical and Dental Education Levy – funding
held by DPGPEs to pay for GP training.
Mini-Cex Mini-Clinical Evaluation eXercise is a 15 minute
snapshot of doctor/patient interaction. It is
designed to assess the clinical skills attitudes
and behaviours of trainees.
RCGP/Mini-CEX
MMC Modernising Medical Careers MMC
MCQ Multiple Choice Question
MTAS Medical Training Application Service MTAS
MS Minor Surgery
MSF Multi-Source Feedback
NACT National Association of Clinical Tutors NACT
NHS National Health Service (England, Scotland,
Wales, Ireland)
England
Scotland
Wales
Northern Ireland
NHS Appraisal A yearly one to one conversation between a
doctor and a nominated appraiser, which
encourages continuing personal and
professional development over the coming
year, which helps in the formation of a personal
development plan.
NHSE National Health Service Executive (England)
nMRCGP The new assessment system for UK trained
doctors wishing to obtain a CCT (Certificate of
Completion of Training) in General Practice.
Satisfactory completion of the Programme will
allow entrance to the General Medical Council's
GP Register and confer eligibility for
membership of the Royal College of General
Practitioners (MRCGP). It has three
components, AKT, CSA and WPBA.
NOSA National Office for Summative Assessment NOSA
NPSA National Patient Safety Agency NPSA
PCO Primary Care Organisation: the body
administering GP services in a particular
locality, and purchasing secondary care. In
England they are Trusts, different titles in
Scotland Wales and NI.
PEP/PLP Personal Education Plan/Personal Learning
Plan: the programme of personal training and
education for a particular GP Registrar in a
practice, based on the educational needs
identified by formative assessment.
PGMDE Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education
PHCT Primary Health Care Team: usually the core
group of health professionals (doctors, health
visitors, district nurses, midwives etc) in a
particular practice.
PLAB The Professional and Linguistic Assessment
Board. Most medical graduates from outside
the EU must take the PLAB test before they
can be granted registration. Some overseas
doctors are exempt from this test. The PLAB is
administered by the GMC.
GMC/PLAB
PMETB Postgraduate Medical Education Training
Board
PMETB
PMQ Primary Medical Qualification
Postgraduate Dean The senior doctor responsible for all
postgraduate medical education and training in
hospital and general practice in a particular
deanery.
Prescribed Experience GP training undertaken according to a format
and content defined by legislation.
Programme Director That person responsible for designing and
maintaining fit-for-purpose educational
experiences for trainees within a specific
geographical area of a deanery (VTS).
PSQ Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire
PUN Patient Unmet Need BMJ/PUN
RITA Record of In-Training Assessment: the record
of the process of annual assessment managed
by the Postgraduate Deans. This is being
replaced by an e-portfolio for GP Specialty
GPStR’s.
Programme All GP training provided by a deanery
School Organisations, including medical schools, the
local deanery, trusts (acute, mental health and
PCOs) and others (e.g. hospices) that offer
doctors training in a range of different settings
and clinical environments. GP Schools exist in
some English deaneries but these structures
are undergoing change.
ST1,2,3 Specialty Training year 1, 2, 3
STC Specialist Training Committee. A committee of
the postgraduate dean which has delegated to
it many of the dean's duties in the specialty in
question.
Summative
Assessment
The combination of examination and
assessment processes that examine a GP
Registrar's suitability to carry out independent
practice at the end of the Vocational Training
period. This is being phased out and will be
replaced with nMRCGP.
NOSA
Trainee A registered doctor in specialty training
Trainer A GP who has undergone a training and
selection process for teaching and has been
appointed by the deanery.
Training Programme The training experience of an individual trainee
UKCEA UK Conference of Postgraduate Education
Advisors in General Practice
UKCEA
VTR1 Statement of satisfactory completion of a
period of training as a GP Registrar; currently
being phased out and replaced by the eportfolio
for recording workplace based
assessment.
VTR2 Statement of satisfactory completion of a
period of training in an educationally approved
post.
VTS Vocational Training Programme: it is likely that
each Deanery will have several Vocational
Training Programmes that together make up
the Deanery Programme
WONCA World Organisation of Family Doctors Wonca
WONCA/Europe
WPBA Work Place Based Assessment : one of the
three components of the nMRCGP.
RCGP/WPBA
WTE Whole Time Equivalent: amount of training
required by a doctor who is training flexibly. It is
the equivalent of what is required if working full
time.
 

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