Depending on when you started your ICM training, you will be following a particular version of the FICM ICM curriculum.
Current ICM Curriculum
The current ICM curriculum can be found on the FICM website under:
Previous ICM Curriculum
If you started your training in a previous year then one of the following curricula will apply to your training. They are referred to by the year you started training.
The Standalone ICM CCT programme may follow one of three Core programmes
- ACCS [Acute Care Common Stem],
- CAT [Core Anaesthetic Training] and
- CMT [Core Medical Training].
Whichever Core is chosen it will have the following characteristics:
- Can be entered by trainees at ST3 level following completion of one its designated Core training programmes: ACCS, Core Anaesthesia Training or Core Medical Training
- Completion of the core programme includes passing the relevant primary examination: FRCA Primary, MRCP, MCEM. There will in time be an FFICM Primary examination, but this will develop over the coming years.
Details of the Standalone CCT in Intensive Care Medicine are on the FICM website.
The 3 Stages of the ICM CCT programme
Training records need to be kept at all stages.
Stage 1:
- (CT1-ST4) comprises the first 4 years of training (generally 2 years at Core level and 2 years Higher Specialist Training [HST]), with a minimum of 12 months’ training each in ICM, anaesthesia and medicine (of which 6 months can be in Emergency Medicine) within this overall 4 years; the additional 12 months in this Stage is for exposure to acute specialist training and addresses the fact that not all of the ICM multiple cores are of the same length and content; anaesthesia Dual trainees will therefore spend this time training in anaesthesia (single ICM CCT trainees may undertake this time in any of the acute specialties – depending on the needs of the service and local availability – and so are marked as ‘any’ in the single ICM CCT diagram below.
- These modules can be broken down into blocks of a minimum 3/12 each and can be undertaken in any order as local needs require.
The FICM Stage 1 Training Record will be issued when Stage 1 training is completed. The form is available on the FICM website in editable Word format. It may be that the use of the ePortfolio will cover the training record requirements but you need to check this.
Stage 2:
- (ST5-6) includes exposure to sub-specialist modules (3/12 minimum each of Paediatric, Neuro and Cardiac ICM) and the 12/12 ‘Special Skills’ year.
- For all Dual CCTs trainees, their Special Skills year will be spent in their partner specialty; in this instance, undertaking Higher level anaesthesia.
- Specialist Skills Year
- To complete Stage 2, ICM trainees must pass the FFICM Final Examination. The first sitting of this exam will be in Spring 2013.
The Specialist Skills Year training record will be issued on completion of the Specialist Skills training. It is available on the FICM website in editable Word format. It may be that the use of the ePortfolio will cover the training record requirements but you need to check this.
The Stage 2 training record will be issued on completion of Stage 2 training. It is available on the FICM website in editable Word format. It may be that the use of the ePortfolio will cover the training record requirements but you need to check this.
Stage 3:
- (ST7) a final 12/12 block of advanced level Intensive Care Medicine, acquiring high level management skills.
The Stage 3 training record will be issued on completion of Stage 3 training. It is available on the FICM website in editable Word format. It may be that the use of the ePortfolio will cover the training record requirements but you need to check this.
Appointment to ICM with a Dual Speciality CCT
GMC guidance on Dual CCTs states that:
“appointment to Dual CCTs programmes must be through open competition”, and that “both potential trainees and selection panels must be clear whether the appointment is for single or Dual CCTs/s”
All appointments for dual CCTs should adhere to this guidance and to the ICM and the chosen dual specialty CCT person specifications.
The ICM Dual CCT programme may follow one of three Core programmes:
- ACCS [Acute Care Common Stem],
- CAT [Core Anaesthetic Training] and
- CMT [Core Medical Training].
Dual CCTs are available with the following specialties:
- ICM Dual CCTs: Acute Internal Medicine
- ICM Dual CCTs: Anaesthesia
- ICM Dual CCTs: Emergency Medicine
- ICM Dual CCTs: Renal Medicine
- ICM Dual CCTs: Respiratory Medicine
See the FICM Dual CCT page for further details on any of the above Dual CCTs.
For Example:
Core Medical Trainees who subsequently wished to undertake Dual CCTs in anaesthesia and ICM would need to apply for CAT in order to meet the requirements of The CCT in Anaesthetics and re-enter at CT1. However, their previous time in CMT could be counted toward the 12 months’ medicine required for Stage 1 of ICM CCT training (in blocks of no less than 3 months3 ), should they later be appointed to an ICM CCT programme.
Academic Intensive Care posts
The document “Academic Training in Intensive Care Medicine” on the FICM site states:
The modules of post qualification training for AcICM are labelled [A] to [E] in the accompanying diagram, and are described in more detail below. The depiction of training opportunities and requirements are described in the context of an illustrative diagram that reflects standalone ICM from an ACCS background. This does not cover all possible options in ACCS training, and needs modification to make it generalisable to training needs of individuals who seek Dual Accreditation. However, it provides a useful illustration of the principles involved.
Fig 1: Academic ICM Training Pathways
