Allocation

Primary List Allocation

Doctors are required to give their primary Deanery preference when they apply for the FP or AFP.

Simply put, when the decile it tallied, the higher ranking candidates will fill in the seats earlier. If there are empty spots left by the time your number comes up, you will be allocated to your 1st/2nd/3rd Deanery.

The allocation for the program of 2017/18 will be announced on 8/3/18! An e-mail will be sent with the allocation.

However, you must complete an online Oriel survey before you can access the allocation results. This survey will be available starting 25/1/18. Fill it in early!

I was not successful in my AFP allocation which resulted me landing in the primary list allocation, which I was very content with. In retrospect, I was very happy with this outcome since I want maximum clinic time to develop myself as a doctor. As an AFP one has other commitments which for me would have been distracting.

Reserve List Batch Allocations

Again, in simple words, those who did not match during the primary list allocation process will end up here and placed on a reserve list on 8/8/18.  These candidates will be notified by email and the UKFPO will try to allocate these candidates to vacancies when they arrive.

Matching to a Foundation Program

You are advised to check the website of each foundation school to familiarize yourself with them and the local matching process.

2-stage match:

foundation schools with many programs will cram programs into groups. Doctors will be matched to programmes in 2 stages:

matched to a group , meaning candidates are required to rank groups in order of preference and will be matched based on their rank and preference.

matched to a program, meaning once matched to a group, applicants will need to rank the program in that group in order of their preference. Doctors will be matched to individual program this way based on their rank and preference.

1-stage match:

if the foundation school does not use groups, doctors will be ranked to programs directly in order of rank and preference.

Though I did not match to my 1st preference, I was fortunate to be matched to my 2nd preference – West Midlands South!

I had a 1 stage match which meant, through Oriel, I was asked to rank the clinical programs in order of priority. There were 167 (2 year) programs which took some time to go through. These programs included 4 month programs which were either all in the same hospital, or scattered around the Deanery.

Some people based the preferences on location , i.e. bigger cities vs remote towns, while other people chose based on the type of clinical programs being offered.

I sought advice from several people, GP’s, FY2s, aunties and uncles…at the end you have to choose according to your own priorities. There is no right or wrong answer. At the end of the day, you need to start somewhere and it’s only for 1-2 years. But yes…

Again remember the deadline and match preferences early!

The process will be completed by 5/4/18 and doctors will be informed by email with a PDF attachment of the result.

The further emphasise never to give up, I would recommend the 2013 article from the Pulse that highlights that errors can be made by the UKFPO even at the last stage. One should always double check their scores. The article can be read here.