Event 2012 - South West Peninsula Deanery

Peninsula Welcome Event Evaluation Report
Peninsula Foundation School
Background
After the success of the inaugural Peninsula Welcome Event organised for trainees
who commenced Foundation in August 2011, the Peninsula Foundation School
organised a second event to help applicants matched to the School make their
individual job preferences in stage 2 of the F1 2012 application process. The
Welcome Event was held on Friday 6 th January 2012 at Derriford Hospital in
Plymouth and a team from each trust attended including Foundation Programme
Directors, Foundation Programme Managers/ Administrators, a rota coordinator and
current Foundation trainees.
Content
• Presentations from the Deanery – introduction to the day and overview of
Foundation Training in the Peninsula
• Trust Foundation Programme Directors question and answer sessions
• Foundation Trainee Presentations
• Trust information stands
Objectives of the event
• Introduce the students to the Foundation programme, the Foundation School
team and the trusts in the Peninsula
• Give the students the opportunity to talk to each trust to ask questions,
gathering information
• Give the students the opportunity to hear from current trainees and ask
questions about their experience
Following the event, attendees were asked to complete an evaluation form via an
online survey to help plan for similar future events.
Evaluation
193 people were matched to the School for programmes starting in August 2012.
60% (116) attended the welcome event of which 78% (91) completed an evaluation
form.
48% of those who attended the event were local graduates from the Peninsula
Medical School. The remaining 52% were graduates from all other medical schools.
For F1 2012, the school will be made up of 33% local graduates and 67% graduates
from other medical schools. Consequently, local graduates were overrepresented at
the event.

Decision Making
Overall, 42% of attendees made a different decision about their first choice
preference as a result of the event. This included 13 who were initially undecided.
The decision changing effect was more likely for applicants from outside the area.
Table 1 – Applicants’ preferences following the event
Changed 1 st choice
preference
No change to first
choice preference
PMS Graduates 12 (27%) 32 (73%)
Non PMS Graduates 26 (55%) 21 (45%)
Total 38 (42%) 53 (58%)
As shown in table 2, Exeter was the most popular trust before the event, while South
Devon was the most popular trust afterwards. The proportion that was undecided
about their choice of trust remained similar before and after the event, with about a
quarter undecided after the event, although the individuals in that group had
changed. Of those who were undecided before the event, 62% had made a choice
for their first choice trust. 12% of trainees who had a first choice trust before the
event were subsequently undecided about the trust they would choose.
Table 2 – First choice trusts
First Choice Before the event After the event
NDHT 3 (3%) 6 (7%)
PHT 14 (15%) 12 (13%)
RCHT 18 (20%) 19 (21%)
RDE 24 (26%) 12 (13%)
SDHT 11 (12%) 22 (24%)
Undecided 21 (23%) 20 (22%)
Total 91 91
Most useful aspects of the event
Attendees were asked what they found most useful from the event and why. 96% of
the students provided an answer to this question of which 77% said that a most
useful aspect of the day were the presentations given by the current Foundation
trainees and the opportunity to speak to them.
• “Great to hear from F1s and F2s from all the trusts, really reassured me that
everywhere is a good place to go with lots of opportunities”
• “The talks that the doctors provided on each area was very useful, especially
as I didn't know a lot about Barnstaple and Torbay so it was great to hear a bit
more about these areas and I will probably put these higher up on my order
due to this”
• “F1/2 presentations on their experiences in their trusts - they are the people
we will be in 12/24 months time, so it was vital to hear their viewpoints on the
different trusts, especially as I have not spent much time in Devon or Cornwall
previously. I am very much looking forward to being a doctor in Peninsula, and
it is clear that nobody is seen as 'just another F1'!”

• “The presentations by current junior doctors from each trust were extremely
helpful in shedding light on what life is like in each of the areas. I was
impressed by the thought and effort that went into them”
• “Trainee presentations were excellent, and provided real food for thought.
One or two of the trusts have leapfrogged up my list on the basis of their
enthusiasm”
• “Hearing from current F1s/F2s because then you get a good idea of what the
environment is like from someone just starting out”
22% found the trust information stands very useful:
• “ The stands were really helpful and everyone was very friendly and willing to
answer questions/queries”
• “Information from the trusts about working in their hospitals and their
information stands where we could ask questions and meet people on a
personal level. Information packs provided by Torbay hospital were amazing -
especially the guide for junior doctors”
• “It was useful having the question time after to get more information on jobs
and how the rota works including banded and unbanded jobs”
• “Very useful to be able to ask individual questions to the trainees and
programme managers after the presentations”
In general, attendees’ comments suggested they valued many different aspects of
the event as a whole:
• “Great talks from all the F1/F2's from the respective trusts. They really sold
each place and actually made me question my initial decision of where to
apply and possibly change my mind. Great information stands from each
deanery. Good introduction talks and question and answer sessions”
• “I valued the portfolio presentation because it was something I knew little
about and now I am keen to make it a priority (knowing now how important it
is)”
• “The presentations from foundation doctors based at each locality gave me a
better understanding of what life would be like at the different trusts. The
question time with all the foundation leads from each locality let me easily
compare all the localities together and questions that I hadn't even considered
were asked and useful to me”
• “We were warmly welcomed by organisation staff; it was interesting to get
perspectives of current Foundation Programme students; I was helpfully
advised by Peninsula Trust consultants and Foundation Programme doctors
regarding appropriate factors influencing job choices”
• “The presentations given by the junior doctors were helpful as they gave a
real feel for what the atmosphere at each of the localities is like. Also helpful
to hear the consultants talking about the individual strengths and weaknesses
of their hospitals”
• “Good to hear about different pros and cons of each location, as well as an
enthusiastic look at the e-portfolio”

Suggestions for future events
Attendees were asked if they thought there was anything that could be improved for
similar events in the future. Their suggested changes include more written
information on rotations including rotas, banding etc and the F1 trainee presentations
to include more on accommodation and available jobs.
A number of students suggested that the e-portfolio presentation should be moved
closer to the induction week as they felt they would forget the information by the time
they start and would need to have it repeated.
Another suggested improvement was for each trust to have the same information
packs available on their stand so there was even more opportunity to compare and
they would also have liked to have seen competition ratios for previous years.
While 22% of trainees valued the question and answer session with the Foundation
Programme directors, 36% said that they didn’t find it very useful as the answers
were very similar and did not give the opportunity for comparison. A suggestion to
improve this included questions being asked by the attendees rather than having
them pre-planned.
Requests were made for the location of the information stands to be larger as some
were quite cramped and people could not get to the stands they wanted to due to the
volume of people. In addition, it was suggested that the attendees were split into
groups to talk to the trusts or to have the stands available before and during the
event as well as at the end to increase the opportunity to ask questions. There was
also a suggestion to have more than one event to allow more people to attend (some
were in the middle of exams).
A few students would have valued a social event but suggested that it could be
something a little less formal, organised by local students and if people wanted to
attend they could do so without prior notice or a social networking site could be used
to register interest. On the same topic a few students commented that they would
have valued an ice breaker or breakout sessions to get to know other prospective
F1s or at least have name badges for all attendees so they could know who their
future colleagues are and the medical school they were from.
Would they recommend the event to future applicants?
99% of attendees answered this question directly and all of these confirmed they
would recommend the event to applicants in future years. One respondent was
ambivalent.
• “Hugely informative, made me excited to be coming in August, well worth the
drive from London!”
• “It was an excellent day - I left the event feeling hopeful and excited about my
move to Cornwall. I also had no idea really which hospital I wanted to work in
but fell in love with Torbay during the event! Very well organised and
incredibly useful event”
• “Everyone was so encouraging and enthusiastic about their trusts/hospitals - I
felt like I came away feeling more confused about where to apply, as I'd now
like to go to all of them, not just one!”

• “Very helpful day that even if it did not completely change my order of
choices, provided me with the confidence to see that wherever I am placed in
Peninsula, I will enjoy the unique opportunities available”
• “Everything was organised wonderfully and has made me very excited about
starting at Peninsula next year! It was generous of all the staff to give up their
time to stay for the whole day, really made us feel welcome. The packs put
together were full of useful information. Everybody was so kind. A thoroughly
enjoyable day - Thank you!”
• “Thank you for the opportunity to go to this welcome event. It was very
informative and has made my decision easier in regards to selecting my future
jobs”
Summary and Recommendations
The Peninsula Foundation School held a Welcome Event on Friday 6 th January 2012
at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth for those people matched to the School for F1 2012.
The aim of the event was to introduce the Foundation Programme and the individual
trusts within the Peninsula and give applicants the opportunity to ask questions and
gather information to help with ranking post preferences for F1.
116 of 193 (60%) people matched to the School attended the event and 78% (91)
completed an online evaluation form. Local students were overrepresented at the
event.
23% were undecided about the trust they would rank as their first choice before the
event and 22% after it. The Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust was the
most popular trust before the event and South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation
Trust was the most popular afterwards.
The trainee presentations, meeting current F1s and the trust information stands were
the most useful aspects of the day for attendees. There were a number of
suggestions for possible improvements that should be considered by the Foundation
School Committee for future events. These include:
• F1 Trainee presentations to include more on accommodation and rotations
• More information on specific rotations in each trust – banding, hours etc
• Allow more room for trust information stands or split the attendees into groups
• Have more than one Welcome Event
• Include social activity
• Move the e-portfolio presentation to the induction week
• Make changes to the question and answer panel section
• Each trust to have the same information/packs available on their stand –
suggest using Torbay material as a template for this.
The report indicates that the event met the needs of the applicants and provided
helpful advice and guidance for selecting their post preferences for F1. The
evaluation shows that there is value in welcoming students to the School.
Natalie Band
Peninsula Foundation School Administrator
January 2012