T&MC Newsletter

Statement from the resident doctor committees of the three Royal Colleges of Physicians

Following the recent news of incorrect exam results delivered to 283 candidates who sat the MRCP(UK) Part 2 Written Examination in September 2023, we wrote to the Federation of the Royal College of Physicians to express our concerns. This was written with the other resident doctor committees of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of London and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. 

This has already been raised at national meetings, and members of the T&MC continue to represent trainees and resident doctors to ensure your views and concerns are heard and raised appropriately. We will push for action and solutions to this problem to ensure the wider cost of this failure is heard by those in leadership.

If you were affected by this error and want to get in touch with us regarding this, then please email us at trainees@rcpe.ac.uk.

The letter in full can be found by visiting the following link here.

College Membership for Students and Foundation Doctors

If you're a medical student or within your first two years of training, you can join the College as Student & Foundation Member for free. With a membership you can apply to join T&MC, get discounts to our medical events and have access to a number of resources for student doctors. Find out more about the reasons you should join on the RCPE website.

Free resources to develop communication skills

Communication barriers can be a significant challenge as cultural styles of communication may vary; certain approaches may be interpreted differently and cause difficulties for new doctors through no fault of their own. With support from Dr Joyce Grainger’s Charitable Trust, RCPE has developed free communication skills resources to support doctors new to working in the NHS, based on evidence in effective communication and interpersonal skills. We provide best practice in challenging situations such as:

  •  Navigating difficult conversations with confidence
  • Preventing complaints before they arise
  • Managing informal and formal complaints 
  • Using de-escalation techniques effectively

These video-based resources are available on our Education Portal here. Please share with your network so we can reach as many doctors as possible.

Upcoming Events

Evening Medical Updates

Our EMU programme is directed towards resident doctors but can be attended by any healthcare professional at any stage of their career. Topics are covered in monthly updates between September and June of each academic year, and each session consists of three 30-minute presentations.

Attendance is either online or from one of our live-link sites, and is free for all RCPE members. RCPE members also get 28 days of online on-demand access following the event. 

The next EMU will be held on 29th April, from 18:30 – 20:15, focusing on side effects of immunotherapy, management of angioedema and anaphylaxis and how to go about delabelling penicillin allergies.

See our other upcoming EMUs below.

RCPE Symposia

The next symposia will be on Hypertension, and will be delivered online on Thursday 3rd April. Talks will include discussions on hypertensive urgency and emergency, an international perspective from Sri Lanka, ultra-long acting therapies, and tele-monitoring in primary care.

Sessions will focus on:

  • Hypertension diagnosis and management
  • Hypertension in young adults, women during pregnancy, and the frail and elderly
  • Resistant and secondary hypertension
  • The future of hypertension
  • This event is open to all grades of medical, health care and scientific staff and to students. Visit the event page for more information and to book now.

Other symposia include:

Future Diploma Ceremonies

Candidates who complete the MRCP(UK) diploma are invited to the college to celebrate this achievement at a diploma ceremony. These are a fantastic opportunity to celebrate your hard work and achievement with your friends and family, alongside representatives from the College and T&MC. Attendance can be booked via the College website – see the diploma page here for further information and common FAQs. The next ceremonies are as follows:

  • Friday 12th September 2025 – booking will open at 10am, 7th April 2025
  • Friday 5th December 2025 – booking will open summer 2025

If you have any queries, please contact: Ceremonies@rcpe.ac.uk

Podcast Round-up

We have a massive resource of podcasts available on our website. Topics covered include applications, career planning, exams, case studies and diagnostic dilemmas! 

The most recent podcasts from the T&MC include:

  • Career Conversations: Medical Specialties – Diabetes and Endocrinology
    • Listen to our co-chair Dr Marilena Giannoudi who talks with Dr Rebecca Sagar about a career in Diabetes and Endocrinology. Dr Sagar highlights the benefits of following this career path, discusses how she got into the specialty and provides advice for those who are interested in it.
  • Clinical Conversations: Type 1 diabetes and technology
    • Dr Marilena Giannoudi discusses Type 1 diabetes with Dr Sam Pearson. Topics include diagnosing T1 diabetes, recognising the impact of a new diagnosis of diabetes on patients and possible treatments, including technological interventions.
Becoming a Parent

In this February episode of Career Conversations, Dr Kirsty Crowe and Dr Aoife Duignan delve into the challenges and rewards of becoming a parent while working in the medical field.

They explore crucial topics such as navigating maternity and annual leave, breaking the news to your employer, and the logistics of returning to work. The discussion also covers the importance of keeping in touch days (KIT), understanding your rights in the workplace, and the resources available to support breastfeeding and arranging childcare. Dr Crowe and Dr Duignan share insights on managing antenatal leave, handling illness during external childcare, and calculating accrued annual leave, offering practical advice for balancing parenthood with a demanding medical career.

PACES Podcasts

If you’re planning to sit your MRCP exams soon, then make sure to have a listen to the PACES podcasts. We have episodes focusing on the overall format of the exam as well as top tips and information on the individual stations.

Other college podcasts include:

  • Consultant Conversations: A podcast series from the RCPE's Recently Appointed Consultants' Committee (RAC) exploring a range of topics relevant for every stage of your consultant journey, and for those preparing to become a consultant.
  • Physicians’ Gallery
    Curious about the history of medicine? The Physicians' Gallery podcast led by our heritage team interviews historians specialising in a huge range of subjects - including the history of poisons, syphilis, wartime medicine and mental illness.
    • In the original 'Casenotes' series we heard from historians specialising in a huge range of subjects - including the history of poisons, syphilis, wartime medicine and mental illness.
    • The current series, 'A-Z' explores topics starting with one letter per episode - from antidotes to zinc. 

All podcasts are available here.

Have Your Say: Podcast Episode Suggestions

We are always keen to receive feedback on the podcasts produced and released by the T&MC, and we are looking for your ideas on topics that we should cover next. This could be anything from a specific condition or specialty, or a series of podcasts that you think would be useful for us to make. 

Please leave your suggestions via the link here.

Upcoming Meetings

Various representatives of the T&MC will be attending the following meetings over the next 3 months. 

  • IMT Special Advisory Committee
  • GIM Special Advisory Committee
  • BMA Scottish Resident Doctors Committee meeting
  • Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCoE)
  • Physician Specialty Recruitment Office (PSRO)

We will collate information and feedback about issues raised and topics discussed, ensuring any vital updates are shared with you – watch out for this in future newsletters. 

Feedback

We’re always keen to hear your thoughts and opinions, whether that be on topics covered in this newsletter, ideas for events/EMUs or wider issues you want to raise with us. If you would like to get in touch, please email us at tmc.representation@rcpe.ac.uk.

Foundation and Pre-IMT Doctors

If you are a current foundation doctor, or a resident who has yet to apply for IMT, then please watch out for future emails as we will be seeking your feedback. This will primarily focus on applying for IMT and identifying any potential barriers.

Surviving in Scrubs and BMA survey on sexism and sexual violence in medical schools

The BMA’s MSC (Medical students committee) and Surviving in Scrubs are running a survey about sexism and sexual violence in medical schools and placements. The survey is now open to all medical students in the UK and will close at 12noon Tuesday 15 April.

The link to the survey is here: Take our survey on sexism and sexual violence in medical schools

They have also posted this video message from the chairs on the BMA Instagram account and the Medical Students X account,.