Any consultants about that can tell me about the CCT please?

[christinarossetti19]

Just that really, in regards to a job interview.

Thanks!

Not sure you've given enough info

Sorry, what does the exam involve? What is the format - is it an interview, multiple choice, written answer or a combination of those? What preparation do doctors do?

Additionally, what's the success/failure rate?

TIA

Are you a journalist? Achieving CCT isn’t one single process, it’s the culmination of multiple processes over many years. I

Not at all. I had an interview at a Royal College and the feedback was that I hadn't done enough research into this area. I couldn't find much in the public domain, so wondered if anyone on MN could enlighten me.

It was a role in which I have a specialism, think HR, but am not a medical person.

That was my sense tbh. That it's a lengthly, cummulative process that is quite hard to answer an interview question about when you're a non-specialist, eg how would you support these people?

It isn’t an exam. It’s a certificate of completion of training, ie a certificate to say you have completed an approved specialist training programme.

I would tend to agree, it doesn’t sound like you have done enough research to work in a college medical education role.

@christinarossetti19 CCT stands for Certificate of Completion of Training. It means that a doctor has completed a lengthy and demanding training programme, and has been assessed by the senior clinicians in charge of supervising training to now fulfil all requirements for working as a consultant in that specialty or subspecialty.

CCT just means certificate of completion of training. It's different in every specialty. It's when you go from junior doctor to consultant.

Genuinely if you say which college then I can help guide you where and what to Google. Which is probably what you need then you can do your own research.

That said there are lots of generalities- some people have undiagnosed dyslexia even at this late stage and could benefit from access to diagnosis and support, recognising these are adults and may have families and be working in high stress, demanding daily roles, support for those who have trained overseas etc etc

saschka me too! Hence trying to find out. There's little to no information in the public domain. Understandably, but I was definitely expected to know the detail of this qualification.

To return to my question, is the assessment an interview, exam that is sat, portfolio of evidence or a combination of those things?

If you don't know about what a CCT is, then I don't think you're ready to work in a medical college role, sorry. It sounds like you need to do a lot more learning in order to be able to do that sort of role - people working in the colleges need to be able to manage the complicated issues, not just know what a CCT is.

Different in every specialty.

The info will be readily available but you need to know what you are looking for...

Scirocco I've dm-ed you. I hope that's okay. elspethmcgillicudddy I completely agree. And if someone is able to point me in that direction, I would be hugely appreciative.

It depends on the specialty as to what the exact requirements are to CCT though generally it is a combination of passing exams, passing workplace based assessments, overall assessments of competency by senior clinicians and gaining sufficient experience. It feels to me that you need to gain a better understanding of postgraduate medical training as a whole before you can understand what you were being asked. The reason you’re not finding what you want online is that you’re not asking the right question.

If you're applying for a job supporting people through training programmes then the interviewers will want to know that you understand what that training programme entails. You'd need to find out what's involved in that specific training programme and its criteria for successful completion. You'd also want to make sure you know about College and national protocols for supporting doctors through this, the role of services such as occupational health, etc.

Have said I would happily but you are still being coy about the specialty!!

@christinarossetti19 I haven't received a message but that could be because I'm on my mobile rather than at a computer just now. I'll check later and in the meantime I'm happy to answer questions here too.

Yes, I agree that I need to gain a better understanding of post-graduate medical training, hence asking. Thanks so much for your response - that was more than I could find from just Googling.

I currently work and have in the past in quite niche industries, and appreciate that what seems obvious to me isn't to those outside of it.

It's the Royal College of Radiologists and Oncologists. I couldn't find much online without access to specialist forums or sites.

If you look on the RCOA website (Royal College of Anaesthetists) tgere is a lot of information in the training section on what is required to obtain a CCT Im sure the other colleges willnhave similar. For anaesthetics to get a CCT you have to have completed the full training programme of core training (three years) or ACCS (four years) plus specialty training (four years). This involves yearly training progress assessments and passing the FRCA exam - one part in core and one part in specialty training.

Thanks Deanefan. Yes, the information is there, although it's hard to grasp exactly what is involved as 'an outsider'. I guess the information that people have provided on this thread eg how long it takes and what is involved, is so obvious to people inside the profession that it's hard to see how it's not to people outside.

The JD had 'working with doctors' as desirable rather than essential, hence my applying. I have worked with doctors in the past (in a completely different field) and currently work in an area that is full of insider knowledge and anacronyms, and know from that there's only so much that you can find out through Google.

CCT is not an event. It's a process leading up to the point where you are agreed to have it. College exams may be needed to contribute but there's years worth of stuff.
Colleges scheduling exam dates well in advance, making it as easy to book as possible etc would help!

Fair point! As far as I could make out, it's a process that doctors go through via workplace observations and assessment with some exams. Takes 3-4 years with some variation for various reasons.

The presentation for the interview was about the CCT 'exam' which wasn't quite how I understood it, although I can see that this is the College's role in the process.

It looks like there are exams after each stage, Is that right?

Ok so I am not a radiologist but I can look at it from the perspective of "if I wanted to specialise in this what would I need to know?". In your defence the website is difficult to navigate. It also looks there are two different fields being represented- clinical oncology and interventional radiology. What you want are the curriculum documents for each which detail what training is required.

I would also look at the foundation training programme as all doctors who go into the training will have had to complete two years of working as a doctor through the foundation training programme.

I haven't looked at the documents in detail as I am working early tomorrow but that is where I would start.

https://www.rcr.ac.uk/media/fgqnsf4l/rcr-curriculuminterventionallradiologycurriculumm1-august-2021.pdf

Ok I've looked a bit more and think it requires a bit more explanation... if you look at the 'critical progression points' paragraphs in the curricula, they talk about FRCR exams. Every specialty does require further postgraduate exams known as membership exams or fellowship exams.

Here it seems you need to pass a set of two exams- found on the website as the RCR exams. Seems like you need to pass them by the end of your third year of training. You will have to look at them in detail to see what they consist of.... in my experience part 1 is usually written or MCQs and part 2 is usually a face to face practical exam with real patients and an examiner.