Doctors training system at 'breaking point'
From Mmc
Doctors training system at 'breaking point'
By Nic Fleming, Medical Correspondent Last Updated: 2:13am GMT 16/03/2007
33,000 junior doctors have applied for only 18,500 jobs
The training system for junior doctors threatens to undermine Britain's position as a world leader in medical sciences, leading medical organisations warned yesterday.
Prof John Bell, president of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and Prof Sir John Tooke, chairman of the Council of Heads of Medical Schools, criticised the scheme for undervaluing applicants' research experience and academic potential.
The Government has come under pressure over both the online selection process for senior positions and reforms to consultants' training since The Daily Telegraph raised the issues two weeks ago.
Ministers last week agreed to a review of the Medical Training Application Service (MTAS), the computerised selection process central to Modernising Medical Careers (MMC), the new junior doctor training scheme.
The criticisms from senior medical figures came as:
• A leading medical journal raised fears that the scheme combined with the European Working Time Directive will produce consultants with inadequate experience.
• Nine out of 10 doctors who have taken part in an online poll called for the resignation of those responsible for the MMC/MTAS debacle.
• Prof Ian Gilmore, the President of the Royal College of Physicians, added his voice to the criticism, saying the system was "at the point of breaking down".
In an open letter released yesterday, Prof Bell and Sir John said: "Academic trainees - those doctors wishing to pursue careers which encompass research as well as patient care - have been particularly badly affected by the decision to anonymise applications and deprive the assessors of details of previous clinical and research experience.
"Without a scientifically informed and research-orientated medical workforce throughout the country, the Government's vision of the UK as a world-class centre for biomedical research and healthcare cannot be realised."
The crisis has come about because 33,000 junior doctors have applied for only 18,500 jobs. The bottleneck stems from applicants who have come through MMC, who started training two years ago, competing for the same jobs as those who started training under the old system three or four years ago.
Meanwhile, The Lancet called for MTAS to be suspended and said the new system, combined with EU laws preventing junior doctors from working longer than 48 hours per week, would produce inexperienced consultants.
An editorial in the journal said: "Previously surgeons underwent approximately 30,000 training hours before becoming consultants - this will now decrease to 6,000."
By yesterday afternoon 1,746 doctors, including consultants, juniors and GPs, had taken part in an online survey on the new training system. Nine out of 10 participants called for the resignations of those responsible for the MMC and MTAS in its current form. Close to 85 per cent called for the suspension of the current selection process until changes had been made.
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "It would be irresponsible to halt the interview process at this late stage. "It would create far greater uncertainty and anxiety for thousands of junior doctors if the interviews were to be cancelled now."
