1. 2012 (COMPETENCY-BASED) FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
I’d like to take you through the basics of the 2012 (competency-based) Fellowship Program and show you where you can find information about it on the College website.
January 2013

2. The 2012 Fellowship Program
60 months full-time equivalent
Trainees move through the stages of training to develop the required level of competence for each stage:
Stage 1 (1st year): Basic
Stage 2 (2nd & 3rd years): Proficient
Stage 3 (4th & 5th years): Advanced
This is a brief overview of the structure of the 2012 Fellowship Program.
It’s a 60 month/5 year FTE program, split into three stages.
When we talk about the competency level required for each Stage, the following is often used:
Stage 1 = Basic
Stage 2 = Proficient
Stage 3 = Advanced
These terms - Basic, Proficient or Advanced - refer to the competence standard that trainees are required to attain and demonstrate to successfully complete each Stage.
For information, trainees who enrolled prior to December 2012 are training under the 2003 regulations and will be transitioned to the 2012 Fellowship Program over the next few years.
What was Basic Training in the 2003 program – years 1 to 3 – is now broken up into Stage 1 and Stage 2.
December 2012

3. The 2012 Fellowship Program
Progression between Stages dependent on:
Time spent in rotations
Attainment of Fellowship Competencies demonstrated through successful completion of mandatory assessments – WBAs, EPAs, In-Training Assessment Forms and Reports
All trainees must be enrolled in and successfully complete a Formal Education Course
All trainees must be enrolled in a Formal Education Course which covers the Syllabi prepared.
December 2012

4. Workplace-based Assessments (WBAs)
Formative assessment of competencies
Mechanism for supervisor to provide meaningful and effective feedback
Supervisors are required to be competent in conducting WBAs
WBA tools include:
Observed Clinical Activity (OCA)
Mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise
Professional Presentation
Case-based Discussion (CbD)
Two important elements of the program are Workplace-based Assessments and Entrustable Professional Activities. These elements are related.
Workplace-based Assessments (WBAs) are formative assessments that are used to provide feedback to trainees about their progress.
Supervisors are required to be competent in conducting WBAs, which will generally occur within regular supervision time (although not always).
They are not intended to add extra time to supervision, but rather to help the supervisor and trainee by giving them some structured points to focus on during feedback.
Four WBAs are used in the (competency-based) Fellowship program:
Observed Clinical Activity (OCA)
Mini-Clinical Evaluation Exercise
Professional Presentation
Case-based Discussion (CbD)
December 2012

5. Workplace-based Assessments (WBAs)
WBAs can be used at any time
Minimum of 3 WBAs used to inform assessment of each EPA
It is possible for one WBA to be used as evidence for more than one EPA
WBAs are designed to add focus and structure to feedback. A trainee and their supervisor can use them whenever they choose. For instance WBAs may be useful for targeted feedback in areas in which a trainee particulalry wishes to excel
A minimum of 3 WBAs, together with other data, are used to inform the assessment of each Entrustable Professional Activity (EPA)
It is possible for a WBA to be used as evidence toward more than one EPA, where relevant, and when assessed at the same standard as the EPA (basic, proficient or advanced).
On the College website, WBAs are found under Pre-Fellowship /2012 Felloship Program/ Assessment overview/Workplace-based Assessments -
December 2012

6. Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs)
Summative assessment
EPAs are clinical tasks that trainees must be entrusted to perform to an appropriate standard in order to progress
EPAs provide a snapshot of how a trainee is performing
A minimum of 2 EPAs must be assessed and achieved for each 6-month rotation
In addition to the rotation-based EPAs, trainees must also be entrusted with general psychiatry EPAs, Psychotherapy EPAs, Addiction Psychiatry EPAs and Psychiatry of Old Age EPAs by the end of Stage 2
-Entrustable Professional Activities – or EPAs – are summative assessment tasks and hurdle requirements (ie a barrier to progression through the stages of training).
-Trainees must demonstrate their competence to the required standard for the relevant stage for the professional activity undertaken; i.e. Stage 2 EPAs are set to a proficient standard.
Not all professional activities are assessed using EPAs; they are designed to be a snapshot of a trainee’s skills and knowledge.
A minimum of 2 EPAs must be assessed and achieved for each 6-month rotation, and the assessment of each EPA must be informed by a minimum of 3 WBAs.
In stages 1 and 2, EPAs do not need to be signed off by a supervisor with a Certificate of Advanced Training (where available) in the EPA’s area of practice; however, the supervisor must be college-accredited and should be recognised as appropriately skilled and experienced in the area.
December 2012

7. EPAs should be planned in advance to ensure successful completion
EPA Planning
EPAs should be planned in advance to ensure successful completion
First 3 years of training (Stages 1 & 2):
20 to 24 No. of EPAs
÷ 6 No. of rotations
= 3.25 to 4 EPAs per rotation
Recommend EPAs per 6 month rotation
The program is flexible to allow trainees and supervisors to plan EPA attainment
Depending on rotations a trainee will need to complete EPAs in their first 36 months (or 3 years) of training. You should aim to complete 3 – 5 EPAs per 6 month FTE rotation
With a bit of planning with supervisor, this does not need to be daunting.
The program is designed to be flexible and some EPAs will be more appropriate to cover off in different rotations. For instance, ECT may be difficult to achieve in a community placement.
EPA forms are at -
December 2012

8. Supervisor In-Training Assessment – ITAs
In-Training Assessment Form
mid-rotation
Formative
In-Training Assessment Report
end-of-rotation
Summative
Must be submitted to the College
-An In-Training Assessment must be filled out for each trainee twice a rotation:
- Formative In-Training Assessment Form must be completed in the middle of a rotation to provide feedback to the trainee and proactively identify and address any issues and to inform the DOT of the trainee’s progress.
Summative In-Training Assessment Report must be completed at the end of a rotation and submitted to the College.
The In-Training Assessment Report is a hurdle requirement and must be submitted to the College within 60 days of completing the rotation for the trainee to progress.
If the end of rotation ITA Report is not submitted, the rotation and ITA Report will be marked as failed.
ITAs can be found at
December 2012

9. Assessments and other requirements
All trainees must attempt and pass:
Scholarly Project
Psychotherapy Written Case
Written exam
OCI Exam
OSCE
All trainees must be enrolled in a Formal Education Course which covers the Syllabi prepared.
Other assessments include:
Scholarly Project
Psychotherapy Written Case
Written exam
OCI exam
OSCE exam
These assessments are not required to be completed until Stage 3 of the program, however trainees should submit a Scholarly Project proposal by Stage 2, and will need to factor in time to complete the minimum of 40 sessions for the Psychotherapy Written Case
December 2012

10. Trainee Progress Trajectory for the 2012 (competency-based) Fellowship Program.
This diagram shows how the program fits together, and how a trainee is expected to progress through the program.
The first four rows set out the EPAs and when they are expected to be achieved, and the ITAs that are to be submitted to the College showing that the EPAs have been achieved and that the corresponding rotation has been passed.
Below the blue line, you can see the other assessment tasks that trainees must successfully complete as they train.
In each case, the shading shows the time during training that a trainee can undertake that task.
The octagonal shapes detail the points in time when an assessment should be successfully completed. If the assessment is not attempted and passed by that point, the trainee must either follow a remedial plan (denoted R) or show cause (SC) as to why they should continue in the program.
This is a shift in approach to training: trainees who are not progressing according to this trajectory must either address this through remediation, and then show cause if they continue to fail that assessment, to maintain their place in the training program.
December 2012

11. Website resources
New regulations, policies and procedures for the 2012 Fellowship program are available from the College website, and will continue to be updated
Trainees enrolled under the 2012 Regulations are not to use resources under the 2003 Regulations section of the website which includes the Links and Forms page.   
December 2012