Future Challenges

The ATDG's main challenge has been becoming more proactive. It has done this by anticipating challenges and encouraging dialogue and debate, both within the Colleges and the Academy, and with other external organisations.

In achieving this, the ATDG has become a valuable group, both to junior doctors and those making decisions about the Health Service, ensuring that junior doctors are considered when decisions are made. It maintains wide representation on groups and committees that are significantly involved in UK training.

When the need arises the ATDG release statements, either publicly, or to inform other organisations. The Group's unique position under the umbrella of the Academy means that when an issue is implicitly relevant to junior doctors, it can join the Academy's discussion. However, for more explicitly junior doctor-related issues the ATDG seeks to provide a statement directly from the ATDG, in order to best serve the doctors it represents.

In its Committee work the ATDG considers:

• What it  can do:
  •  provide a coherent, informed, balanced view on relevant issues that is based indirectly upon the breadth and depth of junior doctors registered with any College
• How it is involved:
  • In the dialogue and debate of issues that impact on education and training, but not as a ‘stamp’ of trainee approval at the end of consultations that have not involved ATDG in their process
• That there are valid reasons for future work in which the ATDG engages:
  •  Time and resources are limited, so it is important to maintain a degree of both short-term and longer-term focus to ATDG work.