This is a three year ‘Hybrid International Gastroenterology Fellowship’ (HIGF) programme that has been prepared to develop the International medical speciality workforce in Gastroenterology in the UK, Nepal and India. It has three main goals:
– To provide a partial solution to the Gastroenterology medical workforce shortage in the UK
– To work with QiMET Nepal and QiHETIndia to offer an International Fellowship programme to support the development of International Gastroenterology services in Nepal and India.
– To provide an integrated ‘hybdrid’ Fellowship in Gastroenterology to support research in health system improvement in the home country through the Fellowship in Research
This medical speciality curriculum has been prepared from the Royal College of Physicians curriculum in Gastroenterology and also meets the requirements of the General Medical Council’s (GMC) Generic Professional Competency (GPC) Framework.
In addition, this programme has been developed to comply with the Higher Education Framework for Doctor of Medicine degrees (QAA, 2014; QAA, 2015) the outcomes of which are written to comply with level 8 Doctorate standards. The UK and Nepal curriculum team have collaborated on the design and development of this Fellowship programme and the curriculum complies with the standards for the development of Post Graduate medical curricula (GMC, 2017).
Background – Gastroenterology in the UK
Gastroenterologists are doctors who investigate, diagnose, treat and prevent gastrointestinal (stomach and intestines) and hepatological (liver, gallbladder, biliary tree and pancreas) diseases. Gastroenterologists develop and run endoscopy services for diagnostic, therapeutic and screening endoscopy for diseases including but not exclusive to cancer. All specialists are competent at upper (OGD) lower (flexible sigmoidoscopy) and colonoscopy gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy and some will have had additional training in advanced treatment techniques that avoid surgery (e.g. mucosal dissection and hepatobiliary endoscopy (ERCP) (HEE, 2017a).
The clinical evidence suggests that increasing the volume of and reducing the wait for endoscopies is a key part of early cancer diagnosis and survivorship. Once trained, Gastroenterologist’s can train a wider team of staff in specific competencies of gastroenterology including:
– Gastroscopy or Upper Endoscopy
– Colonoscopy
– Flexible Sigmoidoscopy
– Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography
In the UK these skills are taught by Higher Specialty Gastroenterologists (ST3 – ST5 – Consultant posts) who take a lead role in the teaching and development of nurses, Operating Department Practitioners and radiographers.
For further information regarding the Hybrid International Gastroenterology Fellowship programmes please contact Dr Anurag Agrawal Training Programme Director for Fellowships in Gastroenterology.