Interim Foundation Year One (FiY1) and preparedness for foundation year 1: A national survey of UK foundation doctors.

BACKGROUND: Induction programmes aim to ease the transition from medical student to doctor. The interim foundation year 1 (FiY1) placement, introduced in the first COVID-19 wave, provided experience in advance of the Foundation Year 1 (FY1) start in August; providing more time and enhanced responsibilities than traditional induction programmes. This study examines the effects of the FiY1 placement on anxiety levels and preparedness for FY1. METHODS: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study using data from four cohorts of FY1s who completed the online National FY1 induction survey from 2017 to 2020 (n = 4766). Questions evaluated self-reported preparedness and anxiety levels. Differences in preparedness and anxiety levels of FiY1 and non-FiY1 participants in 2020, and the 2017-2019 participants (non-FiY1 controls), were evaluated. RESULTS: FiY1s in 2020 reported higher self-reported preparedness (79%) than non-FiY1s (54%) in 2020 (p = <0.001) and the control 2017-2019 cohort (63.8%) (p < 0.001). Fewer FiY1s experienced pathological anxiety (29.3% versus 40.8% for non-FiY1s; p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Time spent in an FiY1 role is associated with an increase in self-perceptions of preparedness and a reduction in anxiety. These data indicate that time spent in an FiY1 role may have utility in further improving the transition period from medical school to FY1.

Mapping the Landscape of Surgical Registries in the United Kingdom: A Review According to the SWiM Methodology.

BACKGROUND: Well-designed surgical registries are essential for high-quality patient centred evaluation of implantable devices and surgical procedures. The importance of registries was highlighted in the recent Cumberlege report that detailed important innovation failures such as the use of vaginal mesh. Many surgical registries exist, but it is currently unclear how different registries are funded, governed, designed, and how their databases are hosted and utilised. There is therefore a need to understand the variation and characteristics of existing surgical registries to identify limitations and make recommendations for improvement. This work aims to understand the characteristics and heterogeneity in the design, governance, and function of existing surgical registries in the United Kingdom (UK). METHODS: Existing surgical registries will be identified using multiple data sources including surgical society websites; search engine review; a targeted search of the Medline and Embase databases and expert knowledge. The data identified were reviewed following the synthesis without meta-analysis (SWiM) methodology. This information will be gathered from sources in the public domain only to fully understand registry transparency for professionals and the public. Details of each registry including disease area/condition/device evaluated; types of outcomes collected; governance, consent, and oversight; linkage to other datasets and funding will be extracted using a standardised data extraction tool. Characteristics of identified registries will be summarised into a narrative review. DISSEMINATION: Findings will be presented at national and international conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals. Results will be presented to key stakeholders including surgeons, methodologists, trialists, regulators, data managers and patients to provide an up-to-date description of the current state of surgical registries in the UK. This work will inform a consensus process to agree how the design of new and existing registries can be optimised to support high quality research to benefit patients and the NHS. HIGHLIGHTS: Well-designed surgical registries are essential for high-quality patient centred evaluation of implantable devices and surgical proceduresPresently there is limited understanding on how these registries are designed, governed, what data they collect and how this data is utilised for research.This review aims to map the landscape of surgical registries in the UK, and understand how they are optimised for research.