ICM Recruitment FAQs

ICM CCT training is entered at ST3 level following completion of one of four designated core programmes: Acute Care Common Stem (ACCS), Core Anaesthetic Training (CAT), Core Medical Training (CMT) or Defined Route of Entry into Emergency Medicine (DRE-EM). Doctors must have completed one of these core programmes, including its associated specialty examination: FRCA (Primary), MRCP (UK), or MCEM (Full).

Yes, doctors will be able to apply for Intensive Care Medicine Single CCT training after two years of IMT and full MRCP(UK) PACES. 

Please follow this link for further details and support: Training pathway: Group 1 specialties 

Yes, doctors will be able to apply for Intensive Care Medicine Single CCT training after two years of Anaesthesia PLUS the Primary FRCA Examination.

Yes, doctors will be able to apply for Intensive Care Medicine Single CCT training after three years of an ACCS programme, if they have the requisite specialty examination: FRCA (Primary), MRCP (UK), or MRCEM (Full).

Yes, you will still be eligible to apply for Group 1 specialties and you may wish to complete the full three-year programme to give you flexibility to apply for any specialty. Doctors will not be disadvantaged if they do not complete IMY3 if the entry criteria for a specialty only requires completion of the first two years of IMT.

Please see the JRCPTB's website for further details and support.

No. Under the pre-2012 Joint CCT system, it was technically possible for surgical trainees to enter the Joint ICM CCT. However in practice, no surgical trainee ever did so. When the standalone ICM CCT was being developed, it was found that there was insufficient competency crossover between core surgery and the other core programmes to allow doctors to enter ICM CCT training and still achieve the required standards in Medicine, Anaesthesia and ICM by the end of Stage 1 training. Whilst it is technically possible for a doctor to dual train in ICM and Surgery (technically a doctor can Dual CCT in any two specialties, if a deanery is willing to fund the programmes) the lack of cross-mappable capabilities would mean that the programmes would be almost purely additive, and the doctor would be in training for many years.

• Please see the information on the Recruitment pages of the website.
• You can also find further details in the respective Dual/Triple CCT guidance on our website 

Yes but only in those dual CCT programmes recognised by the GMC e.g. ICM and Anaesthesia or ICM and Emergency Medicine. The ICM CCT programme has been specifically crafted, with its multiple entry core programmes, to facilitate dual accreditation. Doctors would enter the first specialty (either ICM or their partner specialty) in one recruitment episode and compete for entry to the second specialty the following year.

Doctors are able to apply for either specialty first and it is expected doctors may apply for both at the same recruitment episode in order to increase their appointment opportunities. They will, however, in the event of being successful at both interviews, have to choose one or other specialty. It will be down to local regions to advise their applicants based on their individual circumstances about which specialty they should apply for first.

Yes. It is a stipulation of COPMeD and the Department for Health & Social Care that the two/three CCTs must be undertaken in the same Deanery.

Yes, the Faculty is aware that there are increasing numbers of single CCT in ICM holders year on year, and the workforce planning in conjunction with the Centre for Workforce Intelligence (CfWI) envisages this will continue to climb

Whilst such doctors would indeed have to remain solely in ICM training, it is unlikely that this eventuality would occur. Doctors already in one partner specialty applying to enter the other with over a year of experience are likely to be very strong candidates; this would be analogous to doctors on the ACCS (Anaesthesia) Programme applying for ST4 Anaesthesia, who are competitive in comparison to CAT applicants. Equally, doctors are not entitled to dual training – they must apply for each component in open competition, as with any primary specialty.

Doctors undertaking blocks of ICM outside of the ICM CCT programme are expected to register as Affiliate Trainees of the Faculty. Doctors entering Higher Specialty Training (HST) after August 2012 are expected to demonstrate that they have undertaken training commensurate with Stage 1 level ICM as defined by the standalone CCT in Intensive Care Medicine curriculum and as detailed in this guidance. Such doctors can then apply for Affiliate Fellowship of the Faculty (no post nominals). If these Affiliate Fellows then wished to undertake further training to Stage 2 level, they could sit the FFICM Final examination for full Fellowship of the Faculty, with the post nominals FFICM. If they remain unsuccessful in entering ICM Higher Specialty Training, then an option would be to pursue the Portfolio Pathway for entry onto the Specialist Register for Intensive Care Medicine.

Doctors undertaking blocks of ICM outside of the ICM CCT programme are expected to register as Affiliate Trainees of the Faculty. 

Yes, provided that your ICM Regional Advisor is satisfied that you have not only obtained but also retained all the necessary complementary competencies. If it has been some time since you undertook the relevant complementary training, your RA may require you to undertake an assessment to be sure that you have the necessary skills and knowledge, or indeed undertake another full complementary training module.

See our guidance on the CESR-CP pathway to a CCT that has more information on this.