872 Two Years of Levelling the Playing Field. Challenges in Sustainability Providing a Free Online National Webinar Series and Mock Interview Scheme

Aim

The Specialised Foundation Programme (SFP) is a competitive training programme for UK medical graduates providing opportunities to pursue academic, educational, or managerial roles alongside clinical work. SFP interviews require knowledge of research methods and critical appraisal, applicants are also assessed in their approach to managing unwell patients. Information and guidance around the SFP vary greatly between medical schools. Where institutional support is lacking, expensive and poorly evidenced preparation courses have flourished, exploiting applicants, and creating a barrier to access.

We sought to address this inequality by providing a free, national, structured teaching programme and running mock interviews.

Method

For two application cycles we conducted a virtual preparation programme followed by mock interviews with clinical academics, aiming to improve perceived preparation and confidence. Outcomes were assessed using questionnaires following webinars and mock interviews.

Results

In each cohort, >120 students from 33 Universities, attended webinars. On average, students found the webinars helpful (4.75/5) and interesting (4.72/5). Following the webinars students felt more prepared (p<0.0001) and confident (p<0.0001). Similarly, confidence was significantly improved (p<0.001) by mocks for both cohorts. Recruitment of mentors or interviewers from cohort one for the second cohort was only 7%.

Conclusions

We have demonstrated that SFP applicant confidence and competence for interview can be improved via delivery of a free virtual preparation programme. Such a programme can be delivered through recruitment of a cohort of motivated clinical academics at zero cost. However, despite the clear benefits reported by applicants, retainment of interviewers and thus sustainability of this programme remain challenging.