Clin Med
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The Federation of Royal Colleges of Physicians of the U. K. has developed a programme to deliver specialty certificate examinations. These are knowledge-based examinations to be passed by all senior trainees in most medical specialties seeking a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT). ⋯ The evidence so far suggests that though reasonable reliability (reproducibility) can be achieved, validity (testing what is intended) may be lacking. Educational impact, cost effectiveness, and acceptability require more evidence. Consistency in standard setting is difficult.
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Having children will inevitably, to a greater or lesser degree, have a negative impact on a woman doctor's career progression. It is a major challenge to create a working environment which optimises her career progression, and at the same time enables optimal parental care for her children. ⋯ The woman doctor's perspective as a mother is also put to one side. The major burden of childcare for the foreseeable future will fall on the mother, but the key issue (for parents and administrators) is that the period of intensive childcare is limited and, once complete, both careers can proceed at full pace.
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Intermediate care (IC) has been government policy for implementation in the U. K. for almost 10 years. It was hoped that it would help free up acute hospital resources. ⋯ Typically, outcomes are very similar to traditional hospital care and they tend to be met with high patient satisfaction. Yet there is no evidence that they reduce acute hospital use or that they are cost efficient. Maybe it is time to rethink our national strategy on this issue?