Internal Medicine Training Application process in the UK
IMT is a 3-year training program in general medicine where the first 2 years are rotational and the third year is a registrar post in the Trust. The process of applying to IMT is pretty straightforward and doable but exhausting and only a single-minded person can achieve and triumph it. Applications remain open for almost a month where round 1 is usually opened in November of each year and round 2 is opened in February/ March.
The process begins with basic portfolio designing at the Oriel website which includes lengthy personal and professional information, references from seniors, reasons for applying, future commitments and whatnot! (You can always save and close the application page at any point). It is essential to read through the recruitment criteria for the IMTs and watch the webinar to get an idea of the recruitment process as they are very pedantic and precise with what they expect their applicants to be competent in.
The most important page among all is the last page of the application which is the "Self-assessment score" where aspirants can score as high as their achievements can allow them. It's not necessary to have everything on that list, but it's recommended to have a few to obtain a satisfactory-to-good score. Importantly, if someone hasn't gained any of those competencies previously, a few of those (like audit/QIP, leadership activity, any publication and teaching experience) can be done in the Trust. For an aspirant like me who joined NHS (as a non-trainee) just 3 months before the application, I had to burn the candles at both ends to meet the criteria and procure a good score.
It is a blessing if someone is already enrolled as a non-trainee in the NHS with any of the Trusts as that can be a ladder to achieve the milestones required in the IMT application. Thus, there are some essential points to have at your fingertips as soon as you start your first job in the NHS:
1) Try to get the grip of the system in 2 weeks or sooner than that.
2) Start working on your portfolio from day 1 of the job (shadowing period), not a single day should be taken lightly especially if you're goal-determined and time bound for the application.
3) Get a topic for QIP/ audit maximum in 1 month of the induction.
4) Build good professional relations with the consultants, tell them your aim and always ask them for signing off the CREST for you.
5) Participate in teachings and tend to acquire supportive certificates and colleague feedback.
6) Publications matter a lot, either previous or recent ones. Try to get even a case report published (if no publications in the past).
7) Take supportive exams like MRCPUK written parts and do basic courses such as ALS/ BLS. They will not give any scores but will leave a good impact on your application.
I know it sounds like plenty of work for a new candidate who is coping with a totally new working environment and also struggling to tick box all the points for the application, but from personal experience, it is highly accomplishable.
Once an application has been submitted, the next step is to wait for the selection emails which are as:
Longlisting – ensuring you can meet the main eligibility criteria to be considered for an IMT post.
Shortlisting - if capacity is insufficient to interview all eligible candidates, deciding who can be invited to interview.
Interview – assessment by consultant interviewers based on your answers to a variety of question areas.
Ranking- every candidate gets ranked according to the application and the interview performance.
Offer- Finally, selected candidates will receive that pop-up on Oriel. This is followed by another exercise of shuffling the preferences and whether or not to opt-in/ out of the upgrades.
The process from application submission to getting an offer can take 3-4 months and a lot of patience.
Attached is the link to the IMT recruitment documents which have pdfs of all the required files that ideally should be read beforehand the application.
Disclaimer: There are people who would suggest not to rush in the process and take all the time in the world to built up a commendable portfolio but honestly speaking, a candidate doesn't need a top-class portfolio, they just need some basic stuff and a good self assessment score to apply and to get short-listed which can be done in a 3-4 month time indisputably.