We are alive and kicking and have upped our game (BMJ letters)
From Mmc
BMJ 2007;334:915-916 (5 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39199.479479.3A
Letters
Royal colleges and MMC/MTAS We are alive and kicking and have upped our game
Hawkes focuses on the role of the royal colleges in Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) and the Medical Training Application Service (MTAS).1 On MTAS, the royal colleges—as Hawkes allows—were permitted very little influence on its development.
As to upping our game, the colleges have over recent years developed new roles and responsibilities, have modernised their organisations, and have instigated new initiatives to advance medical practice in line with the continued development of healthcare reform. Such work has transformed the agenda of the colleges into one of proactive engagement with policy makers, of innovation, and of providing patient focused healthcare delivery.
The Academy of Royal Colleges, well placed to bring a unified medical professional view of issues that should be addressed, is developing a broad agenda that reflects continuing change in the nature and delivery of better health and health care, both generally in the UK and abroad, and in the context of the reformed NHS. The colleges, either working individually or together through the academy, are already influencing 21st century medicine, in a variety of alliances with other bodies—independent and statutory—that have interests and responsibilities in health. Examples are the highly acclaimed work on medical professionalism by the Royal College of Physicians, the development of accreditation of radiological services currently being piloted by the Royal College of Radiologists, and the work currently being undertaken by the academy on reconfiguration of acute services. Finally, the academy and the individual colleges welcome their new and central role in helping implement a robust system of recertification or "revalidation" of doctors.
Such new roles and initiatives demonstrate that colleges are championing change and helping to direct modern trends in the development of health care. Representing a living and very important profession, the colleges are very much alive.
Carol M Black, chairman
Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, London W1G 8AX
carol.black@aomrc.org.uk Competing interests: None declared.
