Medical Training Application System (MTAS) update from the BMA Junior Doctors Committee
3rd February 2007
Extension until 5th February 9am for applications
Following the JDC's pressure to extend the deadline for MTAS accepting applications, the MMC team have issued the following email to applicants:
"Important MTAS announcement
The MTAS system has been running slowly at various times this week. This problem has been resolved, and the system is now running fine. Because of the inconvenience to some applicants to ST 2007, the deadline for applications has been extended from 2pm Sunday to 9am (GMT) Monday 5 February.
If any applicant is unable to submit an application before this deadline due to technical problems, they can inform the helpdesk through the ‘contact us’ area of the MTAS site."
The JDC welcomes this decision, which will be of great importance to doctors who have had difficulties in applying due to the technical problems on the MTAS website. This extension follows a previous decision to extend applications (see below).
The following update was posted on the BMA website on 29th January 2007:
During the first week of MTAS applications, the JDC has been monitoring progress and highlighting any problems to the MTAS and MMC Teams.
It was noted at an early stage that while most of the posts were advertised within a joint deanery – "London/KSS" – having separate deaneries for London and KSS would enforce a restriction on applicants’ choices. The JDC raised this immediately with the MMC and MTAS teams and again at a recent meeting with Conference Of Postgraduate Medical Deans(COPMeD) and MMC representatives. All parties worked hard to find a solution. A note was posted on the MTAS and MMC websites to warn applicants not to submit forms until the issue had been rectified. MTAS was offline between the hours of 8.00 and 10.00 on the 28.01.07 to implement the changes and applicants should now be free to go ahead with their applications.
There had been concerns that the number of posts displayed on MTAS did not match the MMC spreadsheet published in December 2006. JDC has investigated this and has been assured that it was because some deaneries had not yet uploaded the details of the posts available. This information should now be present.
In addition, some Fixed Term Specialty Training Appointments (FTSTAs) will only be available in Round 2.
Several other problems have also been highlighted, such as missing specialties from job lists and no links to information for Scottish applications. These have now been rectified. (Please see below for further information on applying in Scotland).
MTAS advice
- There is a 30 minute timeout on the MTAS website, please be sure to save all work as you go along, possibly saving on a Word document as a back up.
- Only submit technical queries to the MTAS help email address and submit once only. This will prevent wasted time answering duplicate/inappropriate queries and reduce the time others need to wait for advice.
- Read the applicant’s guide - http://www.mmc.nhs.uk/download/Applicants%20Guide%20to%20Recruitment%20Release%204%20090107%20(2).pdfIf having problems saving a page, check you have completed all mandatory questions.
- Please note that even though given the option to select FTSTAs for General Practice, these do not exist and so one cannot be offered this if unsuccessful in gaining a run-through programme.
Useful links
MTAS application portal –
http://www.mtas.nhs.uk/
The JDC’s page for MMC updates
Specific advice from the JDC for those on maternity leave
The Department of Health’s MMC website
Quick link to the interview timetable
Links to Royal Colleges
Information for those applying in Scotland
The Scottish applicants guide: http://www.mmc.scot.nhs.uk/documents/ApplicantsGuide22Jan2007.pdf
Academic training posts in Scotland
Academic training opportunities in Scotland in all specialties (including general practice) will be handled as a separate process outside the MTAS national recruitment and selection process and timetable. Recruitment will be to NHS Education for Scotland (NES) Medical Clinical Lectureships (broadly equivalent to the Academic Clinical fellowships in England and Wales). These are university appointments and will be made jointly with the NHS locally and the relevant Scottish university and deanery.
Applications for NES Clinical Lectureships will not be restricted to doctors with a National Training Number (NTN). However all doctors appointed to a Lectureship will require to hold an NTN. Other doctors who already hold NTNs and who may be specialty or specialist registrars will also be eligible to apply. Universities may seek to recruit competitively to such appointments at any time within one year of allocation of an NHS funded clinical lectureship. Appointments need not be processed to ensure that the academic appointment starts on 1st August 2007 co-terminously with a specialty training clinical appointment.
Arrangements will be made to accommodate the situation where a trainee in a speciality is appointed to a run-through training grade appointment in say Glasgow but subsequently competes for and is appointed to a NES clinical lectureship in Aberdeen.
The above arrangements will be advertised on the Scotland MMC Website and in the medical press early in 2007.