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We would like to use this Bulletin article to focus on setting up a Personal Development Plan (PDP), some guidance on what should and should not get included, and to address a query about using your PDP in the Lifelong Learning Platform. In providing this advice we are making reference to the Mythbusters¹ guidance which has been produced by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.

The goals within the PDP should be taken from your appraisal, and should meet your needs and the context within which you work. It is recommended that goals are developed with your appraiser using SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely) objectives, and it often helps to work out how you can demonstrate that a change planned as one of your goals has made a difference, by considering its impact on patients.

I have been appointed as the new SAS representative for the Faculty of Pain Medicine Training and Assessment Committee (FPMTAC). After graduating in 1992, I worked in some of the renowned hospitals in India in anaesthesia and intensive care. I moved to the UK in 2003 to improve my anaesthetic skills and knowledge.

I had my introduction to pain medicine in 2009. I enrolled myself for an MSc in pain management, and achieved a diploma in 2011 from Cardiff University. I went into a training post in 2013, but had to leave training for medical reasons. I continued working at Cardiff and Vale University Health Board as a fellow in regional anaesthesia, where my interest in acute pain started.

Dr Hoo Kee Tsang tells us about the new Specialist Pain Medicine credential.

We’re pleased to announce the launch of the new Faculty of Pain Medicine (FPM) Specialist Pain Medicine credential – a new process to formally recognise a doctor's expertise in pain medicine to bring assured training and regulatory oversight.

GMC credentials were originally developed to focus on discrete areas of practice where consistent clinical standards are considered necessary to support better and safer patient care or where patients are at risk due to workforce gaps.

As the season of spring gently unfolds while I write this here in London, there is a sense of renewed fervour for times to come. I have the pleasure of celebrating two ‘New Years’ annually, a uniqueness which I have always appreciated for one reason – however the Gregorian new year starts, I have another to bring optimism, since once again find myself looking ahead to Tamil New Year on 14 April – Puthandu Vazthukal to all those celebrating this.

New chapters of professional life transitioning from one season to another is the subject of an article by Dr Lauren Elliott and Dr Nipun Agarwal, who eloquently detail the range of experiences that come towards the end of training – the consideration of location, colleagues and job plans blends excitement with an understandable anxiety. For those wanting to understand more about navigating this juncture in a career in anaesthesia, I wholeheartedly recommend the College’s Preparing for CCT and beyond podcast series as a supplement to the piece in this edition of the Bulletin.

The anaesthetic department at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital started a mixed social hockey team during the summer months. Critics who preferred non-team sports argued the organiser was trying to boost his weak CV prior to future consultant applications, but the main aim was always to have fun!

7 November 1925 to 9 May 2022

DSc, MD, PhD, MB ChB, FRCA ( Hon), FGS, FRCS(Hon), FANZCA (Hon), FCAI(Hon)

Dr John Francis Nunn died after an acute episode of respiratory failure. He had spent the last four years of his life in residential care due to progressive vascular dementia.

John read medicine at Birmingham University, during which period he developed passions for climbing and geology. On graduation he went to Svalbard on a geological expedition as medical officer and ‘rock carrier’.

He returned to Birmingham to undertake his house jobs and, having married in 1949, went to Penang in lieu of conventional national service. There he became an anaesthetist, learning the art by hands-on experience and the science by correspondence with seniors back home.

Returning to work following a prolonged period out of training is daunting, whether that be due to parental leave, sick leave, carer’s leave or for Out-of-Programme time. 

Anaesthetists in training know all too well the stresses that come with frequently rotating between different hospitals and departments, with three- and six-monthly rotations being quite the norm in some deaneries.

Having a child is a life changing experience, and many would hope that their place of work remained constant throughout the beginnings of parenthood. Frequent job rotations with a diverse curriculum to work through means trainees are potentially carrying out their return to work in a new environment while juggling the stresses of childcare and pressures of getting back up-to-speed at work.