Our novices are currently ACCS trainees, from a variety of parent specialties. They undertake 6 months (WTE) in anaesthesia and are usually 'ready' to be on the 1st on-call rota for the 5th and 6th month. If they require longer this is not a problem and the rotas will not be written with them as "mission-critical".
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​​The RCOA provides a comprehensive Novice guide: 
https://rcoa.ac.uk/documents/novice-guide/introduction 
 
This is useful reading for both trainee and trainer!
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Additionally the RCOA hosts 'NovPod', a podcast for Novice anaesthetists, which is extremely popular and highly regarded. You can consume it via the RCOA website directly or via the usual streaming platforms.
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The 'Initial Assessment of Competence' (IAC) is an essential milestone and must be completed prior to starting on the on-call rota. It comprises Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) 1 and 2. These are simply ways of describing the professional activity required for this phase of training.
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EPA 1: Perform an anaesthetic pre-operative assessment
EPA 2: Provide general anaesthesia for ASA I/II patients having uncomplicated surgery
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More information on EPA 1 & 2 can be found here: https://rcoa.ac.uk/documents/novice-guide/curriculum
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The IAC workbook is found here: https://www.rcoa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/2022-09/EPA-1-2-2022%20v1.2.pdf
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E-learning for Health (Anaesthesia) hosts much info relevant to Novice anaesthetists and they should be encouraged to access it: https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/anaesthesia/
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