Primary care is the cornerstone of our NHS

There is discriminatory bias against general practice within UK medical schools.^1,2

The public purse pays to train doctors to provide an effective and comprehensive NHS. Medical school deans receive substantial remuneration and run the most expensive and prestigious university faculties. They are implicitly tasked with training people to provide a service that deals with a million people every 36 hours and that cares for vulnerable populations. However, many deans appear to prioritise their performance in the Research Excellence Framework and the production of clinical academics over training doctors who can survive the rigours of modern medicine and so sustain their personal commitment to long-term, safe, patient-centred practice.

Producing socially aware clinicians who will remain in and support the NHS, and the patients it cares for, should be the key priority for medical school educators. Medical school leaders need to reflect and exemplify this commitment. Surely ‘dissing’ a career in general practice is a reflection of systemic problems within the medical hierarchy.

• © British Journal of General Practice 2016