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1500 New Medical School Places for 2018
The news that an additional 1500 medical school places will be made available for September 2018 entry will result in an increase of 25% on the current 6000 cap. Whilst this hasn’t received quite as positive a reaction as the government might have hoped for, it is clearly welcome when the NHS is fraught with difficulties, and a seemingly never-ending number of holes that need plugging. At this stage there is no indication of how these places will be allocated, and what will be the prevalent factors influencing the government in their thinking.
With funding shrinking and resources severely over-stretched, would it make sense to look at allocating further places on four-year graduate-entry courses? Whilst the obvious immediate financial benefit is four years as opposed to five, there are far greater tenets that should make these courses strong contenders for additional places.
Our expertise in this area began with the advent of graduate-entry courses in this country more than fifteen years ago. Our experience to date has time and time again shown enormous benefit to medical schools in working with graduate students. Self-awareness and academic maturity does not just happen, it cannot be learned, it evolves through a passage of time and life experience. Our emotional intelligence is honed through this, and allows us to apply ourselves with far greater understanding and confidence. More importantly, the ability to read situations better, and develop communication skills that require something more than just dialogue make us better medical students and doctors.
Alongside the Investors in People Framework, investing in experience, as well as places, could help to ensure that this move can be far more than just a sticking plaster for our health service.