Further MTAS Update - 4 May 2007
From Mmc
Further MTAS Update - 4 May 2007
Dear colleagues
Further to my previous update, I wanted to report on progress with MTAS from the specialty point of view.
Our focus in advising the Department continues to be the needs of the specialty, our trainees and potential trainees, and the clinical service. We remain very concerned that the MTAS process continues to demonstrate flaws and problems. We are particularly concerned that the Department, having taken legal advice, has not been able to follow our strong steer that we, as a specialty, return to a National Selection System, which mirrors the procedures we used prior to MTAS.
We are also very concerned about the arrangements being put in place to select candidates in the extended Round 1 in undersubscribed specialties such as our own, and we are in addition apprehensive of the implications for staffing the service on the 1 st of August.
However, I do want to try and reassure all trainees and our Fellows and Members who are caught up in this fiasco, that this College is doing everything it can to protect the needs of the specialty and in particular those who wish to take up a career in obstetrics and gynaecology. We are pressing for clarification on the arrangements being proposed for the extended Round 1, and further clarification on the contingency to meet service need, when August arrives. It remains a matter of great regret that the Department has not advised the SHAs and Postgraduate Deans to proceed in the way we had proposed. It is our contention that further delay, confusion and uncertainty would have been minimised.
The importance of Round 2 in the selection procedure becomes increasingly important with respect to timing and method. Clearly, it will have to look very different from Round I, and, if we have achieved anything in our discussions with the Department, it is the assurance that on this occasion specialty advice will be implemented. We have therefore begun a major review, on a specialty-specific basis, of the changes that would have to occur in application and selection procedures to meet the needs of obstetrics and gynaecology.
This has been an extremely difficult time for the medical profession and particularly our specialty. It is unforgivable that this system was foisted on doctors without adequate consultation causing confusion, distress and disenchantment to our trainees and those committed to a career in our specialty.
I do however sense a change in mood, and it is evident that those now charged with responsibility for MTAS are much more prepared to listen and seek professional and specialty advice. This College will ensure that the interests of our specialty are protected and that the trainees and the specialty entrants are supported and encouraged. This will be a central message to forthcoming meetings of our College Advisers and Career Champions.
I also want to thank and acknowledge the many Fellows and Members who have been caught up in this process, personally and on behalf of the specialty, for their continued commitment to the selection and interviewing process in the interests of our trainees, at a time when uncertainty was rife and morale was fragile. This dedication is to be applauded. The spring of 2007 will forever be scarred by the fiasco of MTAS, but it is our intention to ensure that the specialty comes out of this in a way, which meets the future challenges of women's health in this country.
Allan Templeton President
