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 or not it is within their own area of special interest.
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 special area is people with musculo-skeletal disorders. This now includes the emerging field of complex skeletal trauma rehabilitation, as well as chronic spinal (back and neck) pain. The third specific area is rehabilitation of people with limb loss needing (potentially) prosthetic limbs.
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 liaison psychiatry. 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 and day-patient rehabilitation, 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, community centres etc.
Trainees can also gain experience in and are encouraged to participate in research into rehabilitation and disability, audit (mandatory) and service development, highly specialised clinics (e.g. neuro-genetics), teaching and training etc.