Areas for improvement were identified around all five main themes. These will be useful for informing those involved in undergraduate and foundation training on how to improve the experiences of Foundation Year doctors and thereby improve patient care.

Summary Background Care of the dying patient is an intrinsic part of the role of Foundation Year doctors (FYs). This study aimed to explore FYs’ experiences of training and their perceived training needs for their role in care of the dying. Methods All FYs in one Foundation school were invited to take part in semi‐structured group or individual interviews. A total of 8 group interviews and 21 individual interviews were conducted with 47 participants. Interview recordings were transcribed verbatim and framework analysis was undertaken. Findings Key themes derived from the interviews included FYs’ teaching opportunities regarding care of the dying and their learning methods for this subject matter which included learning from experience, observation, simulation, written guidance and supervision. Areas for further training was another key theme and training needs identified included prescribing, communication, recognising dying, documentation, societal perspective and emotional resilience. Discussion FYs’ training experiences in this area vary. This study identifies training needs that can be used to inform both undergraduate and postgraduate curricula.

In the initial survey (2015), 42% (n = 19) of the 45 FY1s in NLaG responded: 84% (n = 16) reported conducting ward rounds alone twice or more each week, with 5% (n = 1) feeling prepared and 89% (n = 17) feeling unprepared to do so. In the second survey (2016), following the introduction of the aide-memoire, 52% (n = 25) of the 48 FY1s responded: 32% (n = 7) reported feeling prepared with the aide-memoire (a 27% increase from 2015). There was also a statistically significant increase in the frequency with which they reported considering three of 13 important aspects of care: nutrition, mobility and discharge planning. There are no studies exploring the frequency with which newly graduated doctors conduct ward rounds alone DISCUSSION: The FY1s were regularly conducting ward rounds alone, and felt unprepared for this. An aide-memoire is a low-cost intervention with some value in improving preparedness, and could be further developed and used elsewhere.

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Newly graduated doctors may be expected to conduct ward rounds alone, yet studies exploring this are limited. A regional cross-sectional study was undertaken to explore foundation year 1 doctors' (FY1s) experiences of conducting ward rounds alone; all 289 FY1s on medical rotations in Yorkshire and the Humber Foundation School were invited to participate in an online survey in November 2016. Thirty-four percent (n=98) responded. The majority (62%, n=61) of respondents reported conducting the daily ward round alone (without a more senior doctor present) two or more times a week. However, 56% (n=55) reported that they had never received teaching on ward round conduct and only 7% (n=7) reported feeling prepared for conducting ward rounds alone at the start of their medical rotation. FY1-led ward rounds are a regular occurrence yet training is not commonplace; widespread, early training should be considered to prepare future doctors for their role.

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