Overview of training in Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease
If you enjoy having direct involvement in the management of a broad range of patient specialties, enjoy working across the clinical spectrum and have a natural curiosity, infection training with Medical Microbiology may be the career for you.
Medical Microbiology Infection Training can be undertaken as a single speciality (CCT in MM only) or combined with ID training (CCT ID/MM). Combined Infection Training (CIT) is a two-year, integrated laboratory and clinical training programme which includes medical microbiology and virology and infectious diseases. Entry is at ST3 following successful completion of Core Medical Training (CMT) and the award of the MRCP. Trainees will then progress to gain a CCT in Medical Microbiology or a combined CCT in Medical Microbiology/Infectious Diseases. Both options are offered for Infection Training in Bristol; only single specialty Medical Microbiology training is available in Peninsula at this time (Peninsula Medical Microbiology). In addition there are a few training posts in Infectious Diseases combined with GIM (CCT ID/GIM); these are hosted by ID and General Medicine (Severn Infectious Diseases)
The emphasis on different components of infection training within training programmes will differ slightly between regions, though all must comply with JRCTB and RCPath curriculum requirements. Trainees interested in infection training are encouraged to talk to current trainees in training centres to understand more about individual training programmes and their strengths.
The training schedule and requirements for entry into ID/MM and MM training are outlined below – from RCPath and JRCTB infection training curricula.
Working as a Medical Microbiologist
Medical Microbiologists have a very varied workload which will lead to engagement with staff and patients in all specialties within their hospital. Clinical workload will partly reflect the size and specialties of the hospital they work in. The work includes:
- direct bedside diagnostic and clinical advice for patients with complex infections and the increasing numbers of patients with compromised immune systems
- daily intensive care ward rounds managing patients with severe community-acquired infections, including sepsis and complex trauma or surgical cases
- participation in the multidisciplinary team management of patients across many other specialties and also working closely with their physician colleagues on the rapid assessment of patients with imported fevers
- emergency infection prevention and control advice and facilitating rapid (often overnight) diagnostics
- working across all hospital specialties, advising GPs, working with public health experts, epidemiologists, infection control nurses, pharmacists and laboratory staff
- advice on infection prevention and control, management of outbreaks, incidents, epidemic response and the design of new buildings
- working closely with laboratory staff to ensure their safety in the handling of potentially high-risk organisms, supporting approval and commissioning of new tests and rapid point-of-care testing (POCT) in their organisations.
- Tact, diplomacy and the ability to influence colleagues (junior medical colleagues, consultant colleagues, laboratory staff, nurses, managers). Good communication and persuasive skills are very important, as is the need to build rapport with others
- Ability to work as part of a team of medical, nursing and scientific staff
- Ability to make sound clinical judgements and decisions and demonstrate clear, logical thinking and an analytical approach to problem-solving.
Key Skills and Personal Attributes
During their training all Postgraduate Doctors in Training will be encouraged to take part in audit, quality improvement and research. All of the departments in this rotation are very active in research and development and there is a unique opportunity to be involved in research in a world-leading centre for research in antimicrobial chemotherapy. Effective teaching is a very important part of the role of a Consultant and trainees will take part in a wide range of undergraduate, post-graduate and allied specialties teaching associated with the host Trusts and Universities of Bristol and the West of England.
Infection Training in Bristol (MM and ID/MM)
Trainees appointed to MM or MM/ID training in Bristol will spend most of their time working at either North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) or University Hospitals Bristol & Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) for medical microbiology and infectious diseases. In addition, trainees spend approximately 6 months, spread throughout their training, in the UKHSA Virology reference service at NBT. All inpatient ID training is undertaken in NBT. Infection trainees are encouraged to take advantage of the research opportunities available in Bristol and may also be able to arrange to spend time towards the end of their training acting up as a consultant or working in a DGH.
Medical Microbiology Training in the Peninsula (MM)
All Medical Microbiology trainees in Peninsula are based in Exeter and rotate to Bristol for 12 months during their CIT years to acquire 6 months Infectious Diseases experience and 6 months Medical Microbiology experience in another Trust. It is anticipated that this requirement to rotate may change (cease) in the near future as ID CIT training becomes established in Peninsula .
Regional training events, online and face-to-face, are well-established for infection trainees in Peninsula and Severn including formal regional training days (protected time) and a weekly journal club.
Working in Infectious Disease
For more detail on infectious disease training combined with MM or combined with GIM, please refer to the ID training pages (Severn Infectious Diseases).