BST certification is an entry requirement for HST, so unfortunately we will not be able to consider any application without it.
It is the trainee’s responsibility to ensure they meet all mandatory requirements of their curriculum in order to be certified for BST. Therefore, the onus is on the trainee to be aware of available dates for mandatory courses and to ensure they attend one of these dates for each of their courses.
Due to complications arising from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, trainees may have experienced the rescheduling of course dates. However, as new dates for courses were made available following this initial disruption and regularly thereafter, trainees who experienced cancellation/postponement of a course would be expected to avail of another course date during the remainder of their time on programme. It is the trainee’s responsibility to keep up to date on upcoming course offerings, either via the RCPI website or by staying in touch with the Education Delivery (Courses) Department.
If a trainee has an outstanding mandatory course which is preventing them from obtaining BST certification and feels that failure to attend this course was due to circumstances entirely beyond their control, they must submit to their RCPI Programme Coordinator a full email trail between themselves and the Education Delivery (Courses) Department showing:
- Evidence that the course was cancelled/postponed or that the trainee was otherwise deliberately removed from the course by the Education Delivery (Courses) Department
- Evidence of all efforts the trainee made to book an alternative course date and that these efforts were unsuccessful
- Evidence that there were no further course offerings for the duration of their remaining time on the BST programme (and up to the time of BST certificate request)
If the trainee provides satisfactory evidence outlined above, the matter will be escalated to the Specialty Training Committee (STC)/Associate Director of BST for consideration. The STC/Associate Director will then decide if an exception can be made and the trainee can be certified for BST without the outstanding course ahead of application to HST.
If the trainee cannot meet the above criteria, then the mandatory course requirement remains and the trainee will need to complete all courses before obtaining BST certification.