The provision of excellent care for the surgical patient, delivered safely, is at the heart of the curriculum.
The aims of the curriculum are to ensure the highest standards of surgical practice in the UK and the Republic of Ireland by delivering high quality surgical training and to provide a programme of training from the completion of the foundation years through to the completion of specialty surgical training. In the UK specialty surgical training culminates in certification or the award of a Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration via a combined programme (CESR-CP1). In the Republic of Ireland it leads to a Certificate of Satisfactory Completion of Surgical Training (CSCST).
The curriculum was founded on the following key principles which support the achievement of these aims:
- A common format and similar framework across all the specialties within surgery.
- Systematic progression from the end of the foundation years through to completion of surgical specialty training.
- Curriculum standards that are underpinned by robust assessment processes, both of which conform to the standards specified by the GMC/RCSI.
- Regulation of progression through training by the achievement of outcomes that are specified within the specialty curricula. These outcomes are competence-based rather than time-based.
- Delivery of the curriculum by surgeons who are appropriately qualified to deliver surgical training.
- Formulation and delivery of surgical care by surgeons working in a multidisciplinary environment.
- Collaboration with those charged with delivering health services and training at all levels.
The curriculum is broad-based and blueprinted to the GMC’s Good Medical Practice and the Royal College of Surgeons of England’s Good Surgical Practice frameworks (on behalf of all four Royal Colleges in the UK and the Republic of Ireland) to ensure that surgeons completing the training programme are more than just technical experts.
Equality and diversity are integral to the rationale of the curriculum and underpin the professional behaviour and leadership skills syllabus. The ISCP encourages a diverse surgical workforce and therefore encourages policies and practices that:
- ensure that every individual is treated with dignity and respect irrespective of their age, disability, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or marital status, or whether they have undergone gender reassignment or are pregnant
- promote equal opportunities and diversity in training and the development of a workplace environment in which colleagues, patients and their carers are treated fairly and are free from harassment and discrimination.
It is expected that these values will be realised through each individual hospital trust’s equality and diversity management policies and procedures. This principle also underlies the Professional Behaviour and Leadership syllabus.
Joint Surgical Colleges Equality and Diversity Policy (July 2013).