The state of ethical-legal oaths in UK medical practice today: Is it time to look at standardising?

2016 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 200-202
Author(s):  
RL Atenstaedt
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Medical Practice ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
Hippocratic Oath ◽  
The State ◽  
Rite Of Passage ◽  
Medical Practitioners ◽  
Electronic Survey ◽  
The Uk

The taking of an ethical-legal oath is a “rite of passage” for many medical practitioners. A 1997 paper noted that half of medical schools in the UK administer an oath. I performed a survey of UK medical schools to see whether these are still used today. An electronic survey was sent to 31 UK medical schools, asking them whether the Hippocratic Oath (in any version) was taken by their medical students; non-respondents were followed up by telephone. Information was obtained from 21 UK medical schools, giving a response rate of 68% (21/31). A total of 18 (86%) institutions use an oath. Ethical-legal oaths are therefore taken in the vast majority of UK medical schools today. However, a great variety are used, and there are advantages in standardisation. My recommendation is that the Standard Medical Oath of the UK (SMOUK) is adopted by all medical schools, and that this is also taken regularly by doctors as part of revalidation.

scholarly journals Primary Care Tracks in Medical Schools

PRiMER ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maribeth P. Williams ◽  
Denny Fe Agana ◽  
Benjamin J. Rooks ◽  
Grant Harrell ◽  
Rosemary A. Klassen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Primary Care Physicians ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
Clerkship Director ◽  
Medicine Clerkship ◽  
Faculty Mentorship

Introduction: With the estimated future shortage of primary care physicians there is a need to recruit more medical students into family medicine. Longitudinal programs or primary care tracks in medical schools have been shown to successfully recruit students into primary care. The aim of this study was to examine the characteristics of primary care tracks in departments of family medicine.  Methods: Data were collected as part of the 2016 CERA Family Medicine Clerkship Director Survey. The survey included questions regarding the presence and description of available primary care tracks as well as the clerkship director’s perception of impact. The survey was distributed via email to 125 US and 16 Canadian family medicine clerkship directors.  Results: The response rate was 86%. Thirty-five respondents (29%) reported offering a longitudinal primary care track. The majority of tracks select students on a competitive basis, are directed by family medicine educators, and include a wide variety of activities. Longitudinal experience in primary care ambulatory settings and primary care faculty mentorship were the most common activities. Almost 70% of clerkship directors believe there is a positive impact on students entering primary care.  Conclusions: The current tracks are diverse in what they offer and could be tailored to the missions of individual medical schools. The majority of clerkship directors reported that they do have a positive impact on students entering primary care.

When a Dream Becomes a Nightmare: Why do Indigenous australian Medical Students Withdraw from Their Courses?

2008 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Ellender ◽  
Marlene Drysdale ◽  
Janice Chesters ◽  
Susan Faulkner ◽  
Heather Kelly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Indigenous Australian ◽  
Indigenous Students ◽  
Recruitment And Retention ◽  
The University

AbstractThis paper investigates reasons Indigenous Australian medical students gave for leaving their courses prior to graduation. Indigenous students who had withdrawn or deferred from their medical courses were asked about the barriers and disincentives that had dissuaded them from graduating. Although the response rate to the questionnaire was very low, it opened up a way of looking at the particular experiences of Indigenous students. Of the 12 responses, the most prominent reason given for withdrawing was financial. Most were satisfied with enrolment processes but a number were disappointed with their courses and with teaching methods. More support from the university was the only encouragement that would have persuaded most respondents to continue. This paper explores the reasons for the high rate of withdrawal of Indigenous medical students and concludes by suggesting ways in which secondary schools, universities and their medical schools could respond to the recruitment and retention of Indigenous medical students.

scholarly journals The NHS reforms: good, bad or neutral? Medical students debate at the College

2012 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 88-89
Author(s):  
Fiona McClenaghan ◽  
Finn Stevenson
Keyword(s):  
Medical Student ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
Positive Change ◽  
Undergraduate Medical Students ◽  
The Future ◽  
Surgical Career ◽  
The Uk

The Professor Harold Ellis Medical Student Prize for Surgery, held at the close of 2011, threw open to debate the question of whether the reforms currently under way in the NHS are 'good, bad or neutral'. Sixteen undergraduate medical students with hopes of a surgical career were invited to the College from medical schools all across the UK to present their case either for or against Andrew Lansley's proposed reforms. After giving a five-minute presentation to fellow students, participants were questioned by fellows of the College and Professor Ellis himself. The conclusions reached represented a complete range of opinion from great anticipation of positive change to great concern over the future of the NHS. Both authors were highly commended for their presentations and here we aim briefly to set out our differing opinions on the reforms of the NHS.

Place-Identity in boundaryless careers: Narratives of medical students from lower socio-economic class backgrounds

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-35
Author(s):  
Emily Róisín Reid
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Social Mobility ◽  
Identity Theory ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
Place Identity ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Economic Class ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Boundaryless Careers

Medical schools are working to widen access to students from lower socio-economic backgrounds, particularly through targeted recruitment within under-doctored regions of the UK. Drawing upon recent research, this article explores ways that place- identity theory can be helpful to career professionals, particularly when thinking about the extent to which where individuals are from influences where they (can) go and what they might need to sacrifice to get there. Bounded student narratives expose the 'dark side' of the social mobility agenda and clash with the quasi-colonial 'world is your oyster' rhetoric of the boundaryless career. Implications for practice are discussed.

scholarly journals Radiology for medical students: Do we teach enough? A national study

2021 ◽  
Vol 94 (1119) ◽  
pp. 20201308
Author(s):  
Cindy Chew ◽  
Patrick J O'Dwyer ◽  
Euan Sandilands
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
General Medical Council ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
National Study ◽  
Medical Council ◽  
Excellent Teaching ◽  
The Hours ◽  
Radiology Teaching ◽  
The Uk

Objective A recent study has shown that the averaged time tabled teaching for a medical student across 5 years in the UK was 4629 hours. Radiology has been demonstrated to be an excellent teaching source, yet the number of hours allocated to this has never been calculated. The aims of this study were to evaluate and quantify the hours allocated to radiology teaching in Scottish Medical Schools and to evaluate if they can fulfil requirements expected from other Clinical disciplines and the upcoming General Medical Council Medical Licensing Assessment (GMC MLA). Methods Data pertaining to timetabled teaching for Radiology in Scottish Universities were obtained from the authors of the Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey. In addition, University Lead Clinician Teachers were surveyed on the radiological investigations and skills medical students should have at graduation. Results Medical students in Scottish Universities were allocated 59 h in Radiology (0.3%) out of a total 19,325 h of timetabled teaching. Hospital-based teaching was variable and ranged from 0 to 31 h. Almost half (15 of 31) of Clinician Teachers felt that there was insufficient radiology teaching in their specialty. Thirteen of 30 conditions included in the GMC MLA were listed by Clinician Teachers, while 23 others not listed by the GMC were considered important and cited by them. Conclusion This study demonstrates that medical students do not receive enough radiology teaching. This needs to be addressed by Universities in collaboration with the NHS in an effort to bring up this up to line with other developed countries and prepare students for the GMC MLA. Advances in knowledge (1) There is insufficient time allocated in Medical Students’ curriculum to Radiology. (2) Radiology teaching in medical schools fall short of University Lead Clinician Teachers’ and GMC expectations of medical students at graduation.

scholarly journals Exploring student perceptions and awareness of social prescribing

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. bjgp19X703649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Mulligan ◽  
Daisy Kirtley ◽  
Claudia Santoni ◽  
Joel Chilaka ◽  
Bogdan Chiva Giurca
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Student Perceptions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
Social Prescribing ◽  
Student Views ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Uk ◽  
New Strategies

BackgroundThe importance of social prescribing has been illustrated by the NHS Long Term Plan, as well as the GP Forward View published in 2016. Social prescribing is enabling healthcare professionals to refer patients to a link worker, to co-design a non-clinical social prescription to improve their health and well-being. A lack of awareness of social prescribing has been suggested in the past, although no studies have been formally conducted to date to provide the evidence basis for this statement.AimExploring perceptions, understanding, and awareness of social prescribing among medical students across the UK.MethodStudent views were collected using a survey delivered before and after teaching sessions as part of the NHS England National Social Prescribing Student Champion Scheme. A total of 932 responses were recorded from 27 different medical schools.ResultsPre-session surveys suggested that 91% (n = 848) of medical students have never heard of the concept of social prescribing before the teaching session. Post-session surveys highlighted that 98% (n = 913) of students regarded the concept as useful and relevant to their future careers following teaching on the subject.ConclusionSurvey findings confirm a significant lack of awareness regarding social prescribing among medical students from 27 different medical schools across the UK. New strategies are needed to ensure the doctors of tomorrow are equipped with the necessary tools to achieve the recent outcomes for graduates which highlight the importance of personalised care and social sciences.

If GPs who teach medical students were assisted to be good role models might this influence the medical career the students choose?

2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. bjgp20X711281
Author(s):  
Jonathan White
Keyword(s):  
General Practice ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Student Teaching ◽  
Role Models ◽  
Role Model ◽  
Clinical Skills ◽  
Workforce Planning ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
Positive Role ◽  
The Uk

BackgroundMost patients are cared for in the community by GPs, and workforce planning for the UK NHS suggests that 50% of medical school graduates need to train as GPs. While there is pressure on medical schools to provide more student teaching in general practice, general practice must be prepared for this increase in workload and teachers should have appropriate training.AimThis study examined the influence that teachers as role models can have on the development and career choices of medical students and whether GPs who teach medical students might benefit from assistance in developing positive attributes.MethodA literature search was carried out. Relevant papers were those that examined the influence of a doctor as teacher role model for medical students, both in assisting in professional development and clinical skills, and in influencing career choice.ResultsThe review identified eleven papers. There was evidence of association between a student having an influential role model as teacher and choosing specialty training in that area, although evidence of a causative connection is less convincing. A recurring theme is the recommendation that teachers should be aware of the influence they can have as role models, both positive and negative.ConclusionAs medical student teaching moves into general practice GPs who teach will need to be helped to understand and develop positive role model attributes, to promote general practice as an attractive career to the students. Further research needs to identify the extent of assistance required and whether medical schools are prepared for this extra responsibility.

Walking the swards: medical education and the rise and spread of the botanical field class

2000 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. ALLEN
Keyword(s):  
Medical Education ◽  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Medical Practice ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
Northern Italy ◽  
Living State ◽  
Informal Approach

Physic gardens expressly for teaching medical students to recognise herbs in the living state originated in northern Italy in 1543 and became a facility to which Europe's leading universities increasingly aspired. In default of one, the practice arose of taking students into the countryside instead; but that depended on there being a teacher who was also a keen field botanist. In the seventeenth century Paris, London and Edinburgh replaced Montpellier and Basle as the principal centres of this more informal approach, which eventually had one or two commercial imitators as well. When stricter qualifications governing medical practice in Britain induced a great expansion of medical schools there after 1815 student excursions were taken in Scotland to new heights of popularity and ambitiousness. Having originated in a need to protect future practitioners from being duped by their suppliers, field classes ended up by generating the publication of floras, a market for botanical collecting equipment and, above all, a simpler model for local associations of naturalists which liberated them from an inherited organisational straitjacket.

scholarly journals Fears and fallacies: Doctors’ perceptions of the barriers to medical innovation

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 155-164
Author(s):  
Tracey Elliott ◽  
Jose Miola ◽  
Ash Samanta ◽  
Jo Samanta
Keyword(s):  
Cancer Patients ◽  
Medical Practice ◽  
Diagnostic Tests ◽  
Medical Innovation ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Medical Specialties ◽  
Medical Practitioners ◽  
Medical Opinion ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Uk

In 2014, Lord Saatchi launched his ultimately unsuccessful Medical Innovation Bill in the UK. Its laudable aim was to free doctors from the shackles that prevented them from providing responsible innovative treatment. Lord Saatchi’s principal contention was that current law was the unsurmountable barrier that prevented clinicians from delivering innovative treatments to cancer patients when conventional options had failed. This was because doctors feared that they might be sued or tried and convicted of gross negligence manslaughter if they deviated from standard practice. Concerns about fear of the law and potential negative effects on medical practice are not new. Fear of litigation has been suggested as the reason for doctors practising “defensive medicine,” by opting for treatments regarded as “grievance-resistant,” rather than clinically indicated, for example, by ordering diagnostic tests or performing certain procedures, which are not strictly medically necessary. Whilst this claim is plausible and apparently accepted by the courts, there is limited empirical evidence in support of it so far as practitioners in the UK are concerned. In this paper, we report on our empirical research which provides a snapshot of medical opinion to begin to rectify this gap. We ran focus groups of different medical specialties, asking what these medical practitioners thought the barriers to medical innovation to be. We found that fear of the law was not the principal barrier to be lowered, and that the answer was far more multifaceted.

scholarly journals Medical Student Views of Acceptable Professional Behavior: A Survey

2016 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathy Finnegan ◽  
Victoria Gauden
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
General Medical Council ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
Professional Values ◽  
Professional Behavior ◽  
Medical Council ◽  
Student Views ◽  
Medical Education And Training ◽  
The Uk

Professionalism is a concept at the heart of good medical practice. Ensuring that medical students develop and display professional behavior is crucial, both to ensure that their early encounters with patients are safe and appropriate, and to help guard against difficulties in their future practice. As part of its role as the UK's medical regulator, the General Medical Council (GMC) sets the standards that doctors need to follow as well as overseeing UK medical education and training. This includes providing guidance on student professional values and fitness to practice, which it does in partnership with the UK Medical Schools Council (MSC). To inform policy development in this area, the GMC carried out a survey of student professional values between December 2014 and January 2015. This article expands on and discusses a report about the survey, produced and published on the General Medical Council (GMC) website in 2015.1 The results of the survey are presented here. A total of 2,501 students responded to the survey, giving their views on the level of acceptability of 16 different scenarios. These results were analyzed by gender, year of study and entry route to medical school. While medical students responded overall in ways that indicate an understanding of professionalism, the results have highlighted some areas to focus improvements on, and differences between groups of students may be helpful to medical schools in planning how and when to teach certain aspects of professionalism.

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