When planning and carrying out the project its worth keeping a few people in mind:

The College Examiners
Although they have the smallest role in your project theirs is most significant. You must make it easy for them to pass your project.
By far the easiest way to do this is to have your project published in a peer-reviewed journal. You are left with something for your curriculum vitae and the college review process then becomes a formality in most cases.
A high-risk strategy of an incomplete audit with corners cut will immediately raise eyebrows and you will be up against it.
Remember many assessors have given up their own time for this process. Your project must show that you respect this.

Your Supervisors
They will be giving you a significant amount of their time that could be spent elsewhere. Use their time wisely.
This person will be getting a first-hand look all the qualities that contribute to being a successful fellow:

1. Communicator
2. Collaborator
3. Scholar
4. Time Management Skills
5. Prioritisation
6. Professional
7. Efficiency

You cannot underestimate how important your relationship with your supervisors is. They are someone that you will potentially ask for a reference or to support your consultant application. When they talk about you over coffee with their colleagues, it is in your interests for them to have a positive view of your work.

All the other people that help you:
Respect their time and don’t underestimate their contribution. You are asking them to do something extra in addition to their own workload.
Make sure there is only positive feedback from them:

1. There is nothing more rewarding than to hear than positive feedback about your trainees.
2. ICU is an MDT environment; you must be able to display the ability to work professionally and productively with everybody.

This is your opportunity to demonstrate how you appreciate your colleagues and how collegial you are.

"But I don't want to be a researcher"
This is one of the commonest complaints raised by trainees who are struggling to engage with the process. Unfortunately, it is irrelevant. The formal project is as mandatory as the part one and part two exam is and for the foreseeable future its here to stay.

Don’t get stuck in a loop. In my opinion the formal project process is as good a test of your ability to be a consultant as any of the hurdles in the race to become a Fellow. It allows you to demonstrate some the key traits that will make you a successful junior consultant: organisation, prioritisation and time-management, professionalism, communication, and discipline. Arguably, there is no other assessment which does this.

There are a wide variety of suitable project types on the CICM website with many examples given. There will be something achievable for everyone no matter which facility or which stage of training you are currently working at. However…



Organisation Matters
There are clear advantages to carrying out your project at an ICU which has a research department, a university affiliation (including a library and statistician), and supervisors who are already experienced in the process if not also college assessors. If you rotate around all your metropolitan sites and leave your project until your rural term, then you should not be surprised if that turns out to be more of a challenge.

Although the timing of part 1 and part 2 preparation takes a lot of thought there are more unpredictable aspects of the formal project than either of the exams. There are often lots of moving parts. Many of which may be out of your control.

The only answer to this start planning early. I suggest that the optimal time is after the primary exam honeymoon period and before study for the second part begins. There are often core rotations undertaken here that meet the criteria described above. If you are well organised you can make use of the doing different components at times where you are busy or not so busy. For example, you might be able to use a librarian to help you with the literature search whilst you are in busy with another project, then plan for data entry when you have a prolonged set of nights, whilst you might leave more mentally intensive tasks (methodology, preparation of your manuscript) for times when you are less burdened with work and training.

It is my opinion that you have an advantage if the post fellowship exam period is left free. This has two benefits. The first is that you are free to learn how to be a consultant and engage in unit activities to maximise your chance of getting that job. The second benefit is that the from the moment you are time complete you can accept a job. Some units may even thoroughly complete your application even if you are not time complete but have met all the requirements.

I’m sure there is nothing more painful than not being able to apply for your dream job because your project is incomplete. Unfortunately, this is a common situation. Don’t let this happen to you. Instead, I encourage you to embrace all the learnings you will have gained from completing your formal project in a timely and methodical manner and applying them to your work practice to become an irresistible applicant for a specialist role.

Conflict of Interest
James is the departmental assessor and an assessor for CICM for the formal project. He is also the deputy director of Gold Coast University Hospital.

Section Author

Dr James McCullough
James McCullough is a Staff Specialist at the Gold Coast University Hospital. He is the current Clinical Lead for Research. With this he supervises audits and Formal Projects within the unit as well as being a CICM Formal Project Assessor and on the formal project committee. He is a new CICM Part 1 Examiner. When not at work James enjoys living on the Coast with his wife and two children. They enjoy getting away camping and James enjoys a bit of fishing and golfing when time permits.

Section Reviewer

Dr Ravi Mistry
Ravi is an intensivist with an ongoing interest in trainee education and echocardiography. He regularly contributes to several college supported and endorsed courses. He enjoys making the most of the sun and good vibes of the Gold Coast with his middle-aged dog ('Doggins') and 2-year-old daughter. Both are incredibly selective when it comes to listening to him but incredibly forthcoming in making him laugh.