FICM set to become the College of Intensive Care Medicine in July 2026
After announcing its intention to become a Medical College in 2022, the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FICM) can now confirm it is set to become the College of Intensive Care Medicine (CICM) in July 2026.
The FICM Board has been driving the case to become independent of its eight parent Medical Colleges for two and a half years, achieving important regulatory milestones and demonstrating its readiness to operate on an equal footing with other specialty-specific Medical Colleges.
As a Medical College, CICM will have greater autonomy over its resources so that it can do more to shape the future of critical care services, develop the lifelong career pathways of a diverse membership, and ultimately improve quality of care for patients and their relatives including life after critical illness.
FICM Dean Dr Daniele Bryden said: “We have achieved so much as a Faculty; now it’s time to look to the future of the specialty and a College of ICM that represents us all. We have already been acting as a College in many of our functions, and the change will give intensive care medicine the external visibility to allow us to do more for our members, the specialty and our patients.”
Member surveys and feedback have shown overwhelming recognition that intensive care medicine is a standalone medical specialty. This position formed part of the case put to the Board of Trustees of FICM’s host college, The Royal College of Anaesthetists, which has now voted to support the establishment of CICM as a charitable company.
Dr Bryden said: “We thank the RCoA Board of Trustees for supporting the FICM Board’s plan. We will always be grateful for our long history together and look forward to retaining strong working links.”
The news is welcomed by Lead for FICM’s Intensivist in Training Subcommittee and Board member Dr Rosie Worrall. She said: “Intensive care medicine is an innovative and multidisciplinary specialty with a hugely varied workforce. I am proud of the work that FICM has achieved over the last 15 years and how Intensivists in Training have developed and gone from strength to strength. This news makes me more excited about the future of our specialty.
“Having financial and organisational independence will allow us to improve our world class training, listen to our members and advocate for what they want.”
Dr Bryden added:
“The new CICM is a College for intensive care. We want all future members of our College to feel and see that we are championing the specialty and consistently improving standards and safety for our patients. As CICM, we value member engagement and will convene a programme of events and materials so that we can keep these conversations open. It is important that the new College truly represents all members, so we will be asking for member views on their hopes for a new College, what they would expect to see and the values by which we should operate.”
FICM is working to achieve a seamless transition to become CICM which maintains all current work-streams around recruitment, training, examinations, standards, and guidelines, with growth over time as the new College develops.
Discussions are ongoing around membership categories and post-nominals within the future college, but in the meantime all current FICM members, and those who would be eligible in the near future for any of the current Faculty membership categories, should be reassured that they will have a place within a new, vibrant college of ICM.
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