Sir,

I read with interest the Viewpoint article by Dr Chadwick regarding the future of Acute Internal Medicine (AIM) training, particularly the development of Capabilities in Practice (CiPs) and their potential to promote a greater identity within the specialty training. Dr Chadwick highlights the struggle we face in asserting why our specialty is so vibrant and vital. In my experience, Acute Internal Medicine training suffers from an identity crisis whereby the specialty is seen as being permanently on call, with trainees working more shifts as the Duty Medical Registrar (DMR) than on other specialty training programs, without the variability of outpatient and skill-based training. Indeed, the recent Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board (JRCPTB) statement regarding quality criteria for GIM/AIM Registrars appears to regard the role of the AIM registrar as that of the DMR rather than a specialist in their own field.

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References

1. Chadwick B (2017). The current state of Acute Medical training. Acute Med 16(4): 204
2. Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board (2018). Quality criteria for GIM/AIM Registrars. Retrieved from https://www.jrcptb.org.uk/quality/quality-criteria-gimaim [Accessed March 2018]
3. Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board (2017). New Internal Medicine Curriculum. Retrieved from https://www.jrcptb.org.uk/new-internal-medicine-curriculum [Accessed March 2018]
4. Time to Intervene. NCEPOD Report 2012. Retrieved from http://www.ncepod.org.uk/2012report1/downloads/CAP_fullreport.pdf [Accessed March 2018]