Doctors’ leaders are calling on ministers to ensure that graduates from UK medical schools have jobs to go to after graduation. This follows confirmation that applications for the next foundation programme have exceeded currently available vacancies.
The UK Foundation Programme Office (UKFPO) has announced that there were 184 more applicants from final year medical students than places available on the foundation programme, starting in August 2011. The BMA has been lobbying the UKFPO and ministers to rectify this situation since the problem emerged in September 2010. The UKFPO has now produced a contingency plan aimed at tackling the over subscription, which will seek to allocate posts as applicants withdraw or fail their exams. The UKFPO has assured the BMA, that given past withdrawal rates, they do expect all applicants to find a post by August 2011. Responding to the announcement, Karin Purshouse, chair of the BMA’s Medical Students Committee, said: “It is unacceptable for any UK medical graduate to be in a position where they might not be able to start a job as a junior doctor after medical school. The taxpayer invests £266,000 in training each student during the course of their five to six year medical degree. This public investment will be lost if medical graduates are not able to begin treating patients, especially as they are legally required to undertake this important first post before being able to practice fully as a doctor.”
