BMJ  2007;335:591 (22 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.39302.403021.94

Feature

Head to head

Should postgraduate training places be reserved for UK graduates? No

University Hospitals, Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry CV2 2DX

After many young doctors failed to get NHS jobs this summer, Edward Byrne argues that training posts should go to UK graduates. But Edwin Borman believes restricting access would damage the profession

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Rumblings of revolution can be heard within the medical profession. What with relentless reforms to the health service, threats to our professionalism, the chaos of the medical training application service (MTAS), and a very real risk of doctors being unemployed, the forces of "blame someone," "get rid of all of them," and "I want the best for me and my own" have been let loose.

But that does not justify shutting the door on our colleagues who have come from abroad to work and train beside us in the United Kingdom. Just the opposite; when we prepare to "staff" the barricades, it is worth remembering that "United we stand, divided we fall."

For most of the lifespan of the NHS, the UK has had an implicit policy to rely on international medical graduates to "top-up" the number of UK graduates. Such a system is cheaper (doctors coming from abroad bring . . . [Full text of this article]

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Rapid Responses:

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Reserve training places at your own risk

Kapil Parakh
bmj.com, 21 Sep 2007 [Full text]

Reserved training places for overseas graduates

Jonathan N Allcock
bmj.com, 21 Sep 2007 [Full text]

Whats wrong with UK graduates?

Elliott J King
bmj.com, 21 Sep 2007 [Full text]

The true Multinational Corporation

M Dalvi, et al.
bmj.com, 22 Sep 2007 [Full text]

Should postgraduate training places be reserved for UK graduates?

Thein H Oo
bmj.com, 23 Sep 2007 [Full text]

nhs ethical recruitment policy is a joke

edmund willis
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competition only

ivy paul
bmj.com, 17 Dec 2007 [Full text]

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