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- Page navigation anchor for Supporting a career in general practice to medical school aspirantsSupporting a career in general practice to medical school aspirants
It was interesting to read this article that focuses on medical students and selecting a career in general practice. There have been numerous workforce and educational reviews about the state of medical education in England. However, there has been very little work done to attract potential medical students for a career in general practice. I work as a part-time healthcare assistant in a general practice and am studying for my final year A levels in a local school and an aspirant for medical school admission. Primary care is the foundation of the NHS. General practice is still a vocation and will continue to be so, based on the human touch, while taking in the changes to our society with the huge advancement in technology in the new millennium.1
While the article suggested about catching them young, it does not go so far as catching them really young. I refer to the fact that it is almost impossible for students to get an opportunity for work experience in general practice before they apply for medicine. This applies to both students in both comprehensive and private schools. Various reasons have been touted including difficulty to get time buy-in from GPs, nurses, and managers, confidentially issues, and additional costs of insurance for student observers in a practice. It is interesting to note that hospitals have been offering well-organised school student placements going back many years. The first contact with the NHS in life for most is w...
Show MoreCompeting Interests: None declared. - Page navigation anchor for Innovations in primary care to promote general practice as a career to medical studentsInnovations in primary care to promote general practice as a career to medical students
The editorial on how can medical schools encourage students to choose general practice as a career?1 is extremely relevant given the current challenges general practice faces in workforce planning. The article gave recommendations for medical schools to consider to increase the uptake of general practice as a career by medical students.
The East Midlands has a significant primary care recruitment and retention issue. We would like to share some of our innovations at Nottingham Medical School which aim to enable students to make informed decisions about career choices including primary care, and nurture those with a particular interest if they wish to ‘choose GP’.- We have close links with the student GP Society to facilitate regular sessions with GPs with special interests, focus groups and encouraging visits to RCGP Euston Square and national conferences.
- We have set up a Buddy Scheme with GP registrars for medical students which supports interested GP Society members through medical school to speciality applications.
- There is significant GP representation on the medical school admissions panel. Multiple mini interviews have replaced the traditional interviews and will now include primary care scenarios.
- A Widening Access project promoting GP careers to local academically able pupils from secondary schools that...
Competing Interests: None declared. - Page navigation anchor for Encouraging medical students to pursue general practiceEncouraging medical students to pursue general practiceThe UKFPO F2 career destination report, suggests some of the more ‘academic’ medical schools have lower proportions of GP core trainees.1 Why? Is being a GP seen as less academically worthy? Or are these medical schools inadvertently discouraging general practice as a career?From the start I have wanted to be a GP. However, this longstanding belief has been challenged on every clinical placement so far. Why? Why do hospital practitioners consider it their duty to dissuade you from general practice and persuade you towards hospital medicine?In my experience a disproportionate amount of clinical placements take place in secondary and tertiary care, this lack of long term exposure could be detrimental towards general practice. My aspiration has not changed but many fellow students see becoming a GP as a second choice option; medical schools need to do more to make general practice seem exciting, attractive and vital.As suggested, increased exposure to inspiring, enthusiastic general practitioners would open many student’s eyes to the hugely varied and rewarding career of a GP. There has been minimal contact with academic GPs apart from via the voluntary GP society. Allowing GPs to have larger (and more public) roles within the curriculum early in pre-clinical and clinical training could help make the career an active choice, not a fall back option. Ho...Show MoreCompeting Interests: None declared.
- Page navigation anchor for Medical students and general practice as a careerMedical students and general practice as a careerIt slightly saddens me that we are still stuck with a model of GP training that is not in keeping with portfolio careers and training schemes that are not fit for purpose (i.e. no paediatrics or dermatology as examples).Why does the College allow that latter to continue and why does the system not recognise that a huge swathe of young doctors may want a career with say a year of dermatology and dermatology surgery, or diabetes or emergency care as part of their training so they can then be a GP with an interest. How will the new junior doctor contract allow this breadth of training without a drop in income?If the training posts offered better training and a broader career outcome I suspect like in the 1980's there would be a dramatic turnaround. If we keep offering no change or worse in the sense hurdles that seem not to apply to all the other grades being trained to fill the GP gaps things will stay the same. Now training exit is so centred on CSA that the fun things of GP life may be missed.Competing Interests: None declared.