Medical education in Wales
Medical education in Wales (Welsh: Addysg feddygol Cymru) refers to the education of medical students and qualified medical doctors in Wales.
List of medical schools
Medical schools in Wales are departments of universities in Wales that offer a medicine course for the qualification of a student as a medical doctor. There are currently two dedicated medical schools in Wales.
The Cardiff University School of Medicine offers a 5-year full-time degree titled MBBCh.[1]
Bangor University delivers the "C21 north Wales Graduate entry to medicine 4-year programme (MBBCh)" in collaboration with Cardiff University's School of Medicine. Students attend year 1 at Cardiff University and are committed to attending years 2–4 in North Wales.[2]
The Swansea University Medical School offers a 4-year full-time course titled "graduate medicine" MBBCH aimed at post-graduates.[3]
Proposed medical schools
Jo Whitehead, CEO of Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has stated that a new Medical and Health Sciences School in North Wales could be achieved by 2025. Then Welsh Health Minister Vaughan Gething has stated that he wants a task and finish group to assess whether a North Wales medical School is “practical and achievable”. A task and finish group chaired by Professor Elizabeth Treasure, has been looking at the idea since autumn 2020.[4]
Postgraduate education
Following completion of medical school, junior doctors then enter a vocational training phase. In Wales a doctor's training normally follows this path:
Welsh Foundation School
The Wales Foundation Programme is coordinated by the Wales Foundation School which is based within Health Education Improvement Wales. These offices are in Nantgarw, South Wales. Welsh Unpaired Foundation Programme: Foundation Doctors can select F2 placements following the start of their Foundation training and can apply for placement anywhere in Wales, regardless of their F1 placement. The Foundation programmes in Wales meet the clinical competency as required by the Foundation Programme Curriculum and General Medical Council (GMC) national standards and allow full GMC registration.[5]
Speciality Training
Following completion of the Foundation Programme, a doctor can choose to specialise in one field. All routes involve further assessment and examinations.
General Practice
To train as a general practitioner (GP), after completing the Foundation Programme, a doctor must complete three years of speciality training. This comprises a minimum of 12 to 18 months of posts in a variety of hospital specialities - often including paediatrics, psychiatry, geriatrics and obstetrics & gynaecology.[6] The trainee spends the remaining 18 to 24 months as a General Practice Speciality Registrar - a trainee based in a GP practice. After completing this training and the membership exams of the Royal College of General Practitioners, the doctor can become a GP and can practise independently.
Hospital Specialty
Hospital doctors are promoted after sitting relevant postgraduate exams within their chosen speciality (e.g. Member of the Royal College of Physicians MRCP, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons MRCS) and a competitive interview selection process from SHO to Specialty Registrar (StR) and eventually Consultant on completion of the CCT(Certificate of Completion of Training), which is the highest level in a speciality (with the exception of university-linked professors).
The competition is significant for those who wish to attain consultant level and many now complete higher degrees in research such as a Doctorate of Medicine (MD), which is a thesis-based award based on at least two years of full-time research; or PhD which involves at least three years of full-time research. The time taken to get from medical school graduation to becoming a consultant varies from speciality to speciality but can be anything from 7 to over 10 years.[7]
| Year | Current (Modernising Medical Careers) | Previous | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Foundation doctor (FY1 and FY2), 2 years | Pre-registration house officer (PRHO), 1 year | ||
| 2 | Senior house officer (SHO), minimum 2 years; often more | |||
| 3 | Specialty registrar, general practice (GPST), minimum 3 years |
Specialty registrar, hospital speciality (SpR), minimum 5 years | ||
| 4 | Specialist registrar, 4–6 years |
GP registrar, 1 year | ||
| 5 | General practitioner, 4 years total time in training | |||
| 6–8 | General practitioner, minimum 5 years total time in training | |||
| 9 | Consultant, minimum 7 years total time in training | Consultant, minimum 7–9 years total time in training | ||
| Optional | Training is competency based, times shown are a minimum. Training may be extended by obtaining an Academic Clinical Fellowship for research or by dual certification in another speciality. | Training may be extended by pursuing medical research (usually 2–3 years), usually with clinical duties as well | ||
Continuing medical education
Continuing medical education is now mandatory for all doctors, under guidelines from the General Medical Council and Clinical governance.
See also
- Certificate of Completion of Training
- Clinical governance
- INMED
- Modernising Medical Careers
References
- "Medicine (MBBCh)". Cardiff University. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
- "Medicine: North Wales*". Bangor University. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
- "Medicine (Graduate Entry), MBBCH - Swansea University". www.swansea.ac.uk. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
- "New medical school for North Wales could be ready by 2025". North Wales Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
- "Foundation". HEIW. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
- "CCT". www.rcgp.org.uk. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
- Mitchell T (2020). "Adapting for the future: flexibility of UK postgraduate training". Surgery. 38 (10): 670–674. doi:10.1016/j.mpsur.2020.07.004. PMC 7456398. PMID 32904590.