The Malta Foundation Programme offers clinical skills training in procedures that all foundation doctors are expected to be competent and confident to do. These include:
venepuncture and IV cannulation, arterial blood gas sampling, blood cultures, urethral catheterisation, nasogastric tube insertion, spirometry, peak flow and ECG training. In selected specialties, the following may also be done under supervision:
skin suturing, pleural fluid and air aspiration, ascitic fluid aspiration, lumbar puncture and joint effusion aspiration.
Simulation training sessions with a high fidelity advanced patient simulator are delivered at both F1 and F2 levels in our clinical skills lab. This gives an invaluable opportunity for all trainees to manage acutely ill patients, as well as stress the importance of communication skills and team work in pre-set scenarios. Trainees are expected to attend and perform satisfactorily in these sessions in order to achieve the minimum requirements of the Programme.
The Clinical Skills and Simulation Team have undergone training in the UK. The Team is headed by Dr Robert Camilleri
