Absence of intellectual challenge in medical schools

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The finding that only 3% of medical students see general practice as intellectually challenging¹ is the biggest wake-up call for British medical schools since 1948. Medical schools are taking many of the most able students of their generation for 5 years, but this powerful evidence shows they are failing to introduce their students to some of the most interesting medical research in the world. Students are being denied proper opportunities to analyse this research, although higher education prioritises intellectual analysis.

GPs are the biggest branch of the medical profession and the NHS wants half of all medical students to choose general practice.² GPs face the widest range of clinical problems, see the social determinants of health more than other doctors, have the most complex consultations,³ while having the longest and deepest working relationships with patients in British medicine.

This educational tragedy has occurred through the hidden curriculum and the non-verbal signals from British medical schools, especially by not examining the principles of general practice in their final examinations. This signals to students that the intellectual content of general practice is irrelevant.

General practice has its own distinct body of research,^4,5 separate from the medical specialties, which all students need to learn. Even in 2019, the GMC is approving medical schools that neither teach general practice as a research-based discipline, nor examine its principles in their finals. Medical school final examinations and the new planned national licensing examination should include 15% of questions on these principles.

• © British Journal of General Practice 2019