ACCS Curriculum

The purpose of the Acute Care Common Stem (ACCS) curriculum is to equip the trainee with the skills and competencies required to recognise and initially manage the acutely unwell patient. The curriculum provides trainees with the generic professional and specialty specific capabilities required to manage patients presenting with a wide range of acute medical conditions so they can deliver appropriate and timely care to acutely unwell patients and work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team managing these situations.

The ACCS curriculum provides a framework for training in four related acute specialties; Emergency Medicine, Internal Medicine, Anaesthesia and Intensive care medicine which are closely related and interface in the care of the acutely unwell patient. By working in these 4 specialties, the ACCS trainee will become familiar with common acute and life-threatening presentations, their rapid assessment and management and also gain an understanding of what definitive care is needed and where it is best provided.

The ACCS curriculum covers the 2 year generic ACCS training programme whereby trainees rotate through the 4 acute ACCS specialties, spending 6 months (FTE) in each of EM, IM anaesthesia and ICM. All trainees should gain the same experience with the same requirements as each other in each placement irrespective of their parent specialty.

The curriculum is based on the GMC Generic Professional Capabilities which are the fundamental principles that underpin all medical practice. 

The curriculum is structured around 11 ACCS Learning Outcomes which describe the professional tasks within the scope of ACCS training. These are all to be covered during the 2 years of ACCS and form the backbone for training.