The NHS England Thames Valley programme covers all of the areas required within the curriculum, and much more.
Our goal is that any doctor trained on this programme will be able to respond safely and constructively to any rehabilitation problem they may face, whether it is within their own area of special interest or not.
In terms of medically categorised areas of experience, the trainee will have the opportunity within the programme to cover most specialities.
On the programme, as in clinical practice, the largest single speciality concerns rehabilitation of people with neurological and neuro-muscular disorders, including spinal cord injury and peripheral nerve injuries. This includes all types of disorder and all stages of the illness. Patients with functional disorders are also seen.
The other large specialty areas are the diagnosis and management of people with musculo-skeletal disorders and rehabilitation of people with limb loss needing (potentially) prosthetic limbs. The third specific area rehabilitation of people following major trauma in the acute setting.
Other obligatory areas of practice covered include all aspects of assistive technology such as environmental controls and specialised seating.
In addition, it is possible to gain experience in many other areas such as paediatric rehabilitation, cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation, learning disability and general psychiatry and palliative care. In general trainees are encouraged to take advantage of the huge range of clinical expertise available in the Deanery to ensure that they have a broad clinical experience of people with disability. In terms of settings, trainees will naturally work on in-patient units for much of their time, but they will also be involved in out-patient clinics, doing assessments on wards, in homes, and in nursing homes, and advising on patients in ITU. Furthermore, they should see rehabilitation services being delivered in other settings such as nursing homes or community centres.
Trainees can also gain experience in and are encouraged to participate in research into rehabilitation and disability, audit (mandatory) and service development and teaching and training with opportunities throughout their training.