Novice Guide
Curriculum
During your novice period, you’ll work towards achieving the Initial Assessment of Competence (IAC). The IAC is the first milestone in the 2021 Anaesthesia Curriculum. It involves learning to perform an anaesthetic preoperative assessment and provide general anaesthesia in lower risk settings.
The IAC usually takes three to six months (full time equivalent) to complete and is underpinned by a range of formative learning activities, undertaken both within and outside the clinical setting.
Summative assessment determining award of the IAC is performed by the training faculty, led by your Educational Supervisor and College Tutor. The faculty will draw on multiple sources of information, including a review of your portfolio, logbook and observations made in practice, to ensure you have reached the required level of capability to progress.
Information about the College’s online learning portfolio (Lifelong Learning Platform), including an example IAC portfolio, can be found in the following section.
Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs)
EPAs are a way of describing professional practice for the purpose of curriculum design and assessment. The IAC consists of EPAs 1 & 2, which have been selected as the core clinical activities that you need to learn during your novice period:
EPA 1: Perform an anaesthetic pre-operative assessment
EPA 2: Provide general anaesthesia for ASA I/II patients having uncomplicated surgery
To be awarded the IAC, you must be trusted to perform EPAs 1 & 2 with supervision level 2b
(Supervisor within hospital for queries, able to provide prompt direction/assistance.)
The IAC Workbook contains expanded descriptions of each EPA, as well as guidance on planning and recording learning activities. You will also find detailed instructions on the evidence required for summative assessment.