There are two main strategies for choosing which posts to take in Foundation Years One and Two. You could select posts you like in order to confirm your long-term career choice. Alternatively you could select posts you know nothing about just to broaden your horizons. However, trainees don't always get the posts they request. The first priority for the Foundation Tutors who allocate posts is to fill them all. The second priority is to ensure that all trainees are exposed to a variety of rotations over their two-year foundation programme. Embedded taster experience There is the facility in Foundation Year Two (F2) to spend seven to ten days working in a chosen specialty. This is taken as study leave, and is known as an 'embedded taster experience'. This is designed to assist young doctors in choosing a training pathway for subsequent years, not simply to allow a bit more exposure to surgery. It may also serve to partly alleviate some of the frustration that the job allocation process can cause. This article was published on 2024-02-06
