RITAs
Assessment of progress through training is carried out by a panel that reviews the trainee's written evidence for this progress.
Those in training as SpRs or SpTs will know this review as the Record of In Training Assessment or RITA.
Overview of RITA
Assessment of progress through training is carried out by a panel that reviews the trainee's written evidence for this progress. This evidence is known as the Record of In Training Assessment or RITA.
'Progress' means the continued acquisition of public health competencies throughout training. Evidence for this is demonstrated by passing of FPH examinations and successful in-work assessments of competencies.
As the purpose of the panel is to review the record of evidence, technically, it is not absolutely essential that it meets the trainee. However, most deaneries arrange for the panels to meet trainees so that they can explore any areas of doubt around the evidence presented.
The RITA panel determines whether a trainee has completed training satisfactorily. If a trainee completes training satisfactorily, then the panel makes a recommendation to the FPH for the issue of a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT).
This is then referred onwards to the Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) or the UK Public Health Register (UKPHR) that make the ultimate decisions.
Organisation of RITA panels
Deaneries arrange for each trainee to be reviewed by a RITA panel. Trainees are normally reviewed annually. A new trainee would have a first review within 12 months of starting, but not usually earlier than 6 months.
All assessments must be consistent with the requirements laid out in A Guide to Specialist Registrar Training (orange book) [pdf].
Providing the evidence
Trainees need to provide a portfolio of evidence to reflect the training, assessment and evidence that has been acquired since the last RITA panel and the competencies that they have achieved during that time. The panel will review this evidence and reach an agreed view regarding the progress in training and proposed outcomes.
The outcome of a RITA
Progress for most trainees is satisfactory and this is recorded by the panel issuing a RITA form C.
The RITA process, however, also provides a formal process whereby more specific and targeted help can be provided for trainees who are experiencing difficulty. In these cases the panel can recommend, for example, a period of focused training or that training is repeated in a particular area of work. Very occasionally, after other forms of support have not proved successful, it may be concluded that public health may not be the specialty in which an individual is most suited and training should be discontinued. This decision will be made by the Training Programme Director (TPD) and Deanery; decisions of this nature are usually supported by outcomes advised by the RITA panel.
