Out of Programme

OOP (Out of Programme) is a general term for any time you spend outside your training rotation. OOP can range from specialised fellowship training to maternity/paternity leave, but does not include annual leave and short term sick leave as that is included in your training time.

Time out of programme must be agreed upon by your Training Programme Director and the RCS Ireland; you should therefore discuss your plans with them as soon as possible.

You will keep your NTN when on OOP.

If the time is counting towards training you will also need Specialty Advisory Committee (SAC) support, which needs to be issued before you start the period of OOP. Assessment of what was achieved whilst in the OOP should take place at the next RITA meeting or when deemed appropriate by your Deanery - this is to ensure that the time has met approved training standards.

SAC applications can take up to six weeks to be processed, so if you want the time to count towards training please make your application as soon as possible.

If your OOP is not counting towards training, please let us know about it as soon as possible, otherwise your certification date will not be amended to take this into consideration.

The OOP types are:

Although OOPT and OOPR can be counted towards your certification, not all the time you spend on these may be counted. This is because:

• There are restrictions on the maximum amount of OOP time you can count towards training
• The RITA panel may not consider that all the time you spent on OOP was of sufficient quality to be counted towards your certification

For an overview of the JCST OOP process please go here