That the UK is failing to train the number of doctors it needs is hardly news, though the weekend’s reports about the University of Worcester and Wes Streeting’s recent policy interventions have thrust the issue back into the national eye.
Streeting has committed a Labour government to doubling the number of medical student places – a policy that is significantly more expensive than it looks.
How to build a doctor
Though other routes, including graduate entry, are available the default option puts a student directly into a four year undergraduate degree. Classically, the first two years are lecture and lab based, and could be compared to any other scientific undergraduate courses, the latter two are clinically based and see students primarily working on wards and in consulting rooms. This divide has blurred over time, with many medical schools now incorporating clinical experience earlier on in the course.
