Medics Academy

Over the last decade of my career I introduced and looked after the foundation programme in the UK. We managed to get it embedded in UK medicine and the NHS. However there is still a lot of work left to be done. I realised when I retired that we needed to be more innovative with technology in Medical and Healthcare education and try greater consistency and improve the experience of the Foundation Programme. When the Medics.Academy team invited me to lead the development of the  F|Docs programme, I saw this as an opportunity to work with this innovative, young team to bring apply technology and entrepreneurial ideas to the NHS. The team have worked hard over the last 2 years since we came up with the first concepts. They have developed a programme that genuinely tries to support Foundation Schools and Doctors, applying consistency of teaching and supporting individuals to achieve their goals as early stage professionals. The impact of COVID19 did not dent this team, it spurred them on to rethink completely what they were doing and rapidly changed their programme to into something that responded to the needs of students and junior doctors alike. The speed and diligence with which they worked, made me proud to see that the NHS, it’s staff and society generally are in good hands. The programme that Hiba and the F|Docs team are rolling out is something that 3 years ago I wouldn’t have thought possible, but these young professionals are innovating at a pace, and focussing on their colleagues who are students and junior doctors in a way that really is impressive. The feedback and engagement we are seeing is incredible and I am incredibly proud to have led the birth of this initiative and continue to nurture it to have a significant impact on the clinicians concerned and the wider NHS that will benefit.