Certification

The JCST initiates the certification process 6 months before the end of your training. Below is a description of the certification process. 

We hope it will help you when your certification date approaches. 

Responsibilities of the JCST Office

  1. Check trainee’s training details and ISCP account six months before certification date.

  2. Advise trainee, Training Programme Director (TPD), SAC Liaison Member (LM) and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) that they need to prepare for the final ARCP meeting.

Responsibilities of the Trainee

  1. Ensure that your training details are up-to-date.

  2. Enrolled with the Specialty Advisory Committee (SAC) on ISCP in your relevant specialty.

  3. Have satisfactory ARCPs that cover the entirety of training until at least the penultimate year. There should be an ARCP outcome for each year of training with no gaps between assessments.

  4. Ensure ISCP portfolio is up-to-date in advance of ARCP meeting (please remember that it is essential that assessors have enough time to assess all your evidence ahead of the panel meeting; failure to provide this evidence in a timely manner could lead to an incomplete ARCP outcome.

  5. Uploaded an up-to-date CV, ensuring it shows all training posts including dates.

  6. Ensure the required competencies of the specialty Curriculum have been met and are demonstrated on ISCP.

  7. Ensure any information/documents requested by the JCST have been sent to the JCST office.

  8. All periods of OOP have been accounted for.

  9. eLogbook data is current and covers all periods of NTN training and any previous posts recognised as counting towards higher surgical training. 

  10. Passed both sections of the FRCS examination (or have the opportunity to do so before the expected certification date).  

  11. Ensure completion of the Medical Council of Ireland's certification process. Any questions should be directed to the RCSI or Medical Council.

Responsibilities of the Training Programme Director (TPD) and RCSI 

  1. Prepare for final ARCP meeting.

  2. Ensure those who need to attend, specifically the SAC LM, have been given enough notice to be able to attend meeting (at least eight weeks).

  3. TPD to discuss trainee's competencies with SAC LM and agree if an ARCP outcome 6 can be awarded.

  4. TPD to sign off online ARCP 6 - ideally the form should not be signed more than four months before trainees' expected certification dates.

  5. RCSI to sign off online ARCP 6.

  6. RCSI to await recommendation from the JCST before recommending the trainee to the Medical Council of Ireland.

Responsibilities of the SAC Liaison Member (LM)

  1. Review trainee's ISCP portfolio using the curriculum requirements and discuss whether or not they can support the award of CSCST with their TPD. 

  2. Provide externality at the final ARCP meeting in person or virtually and if attendance is not possible liaise with the JCST office and SAC Chair so that another SAC member can attend. 

  3. Once the ARCP 6 is signed off by the TPD, record comments on relevant ARCP form in ISCP - even if comments do not support award of ARCP 6. To do this please log in to your ISCP account, go to "My Trainees > ARCP Management", select the relevant trainee and go to the bottom of the page to "Sign Offs" to add your comment. Please note that JCST cannot progress recommendations for certification without SAC support being evidenced on ISCP. 

Recommendation 

The certification process will rely on data and evidence recorded entirely in ISCP. The role of the SAC is a major part in the process of recommending you to the RCSI, who will then recommend you to the Medical Council for the award of a CSCST. This will however only be possible if SAC LMs are able to assess your competences as evidenced by the data you have recorded in ISCP in advance of your final ARCP meeting.

Subject to a number of final checks, once the ARCP 6 is signed off by all relevant parties, including the SAC LM, we will recommend you to the RCSI. We aim to complete this process within six weeks of receiving confirmation that the ARCP 6 has been signed by the TPD, the trainee and RCSI administrator.

Please note that the sign-off on an ARCP 6 does not automatically lead to a recommendation to the RCSI. The JCST office will ensure that all items mentioned above have been addressed before proceeding with the recommendation.

Early CSCST requests

All early CSCST requests must be supported by the SAC Liaison Member, Training Programme Director and Local Office. Individual requests will be reviewed on a case by case basis. JCST will bring forward expected CSCST dates once support has been evidenced via the ARCP process.

Archiving 

Please note that the JCST will archive trainee files after they have been recommended to the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) for the award of a CSCST certificate. Our records retention policy requires us to keep archived trainee files for eight years after which the files will be confidentially destroyed, for further information please see our Privacy Policy.