Rapid Responses to:
|
|
Rapid Responses: Rapid Responses published:
-
![[Read Rapid Response]](/icons/misc/sectionDOWN.gif)
Country of origin and Academic Medicine
- Arvindan Veiraiah (3 October 2004)
-
Re: Country of origin and Academic Medicine
- Jay Ilangaratne (4 October 2004)
-
Re: Gender and academic medicine
- Richard G Fiddian-Green (5 October 2004)
-
Re: Re: Gender and academic medicine
- Arvindan Veiraiah (5 October 2004)
-
Re: re: re: gender and academic medicine
- Richard G Fiddian-Green (6 October 2004)
-
gender and academic medicine: impacts on the health workforce
- Selena F. Gray (10 October 2004)
|
|
|||
|
Arvindan Veiraiah, LAT Clinical Pharmacology Llandough Hospital, Penarth CF64 2XX
Send response to journal:
|
Editor, Reichenbach and Brown discuss the important issue of discrimination by gender. I wish to bring the plight of overseas trainees (mostly non- White) wishing to enter a career of Academic Medicine. Medical think-tanks in the UK frequently moan about the lack of good clinicians who are interested in Academic Medicine and Research. Research and Academic training also count towards SpR selection. But why don't the Home Office recognise this as medical training? Doctors without residence eligibility do not have a fair chance to obtain research posts because they do not offer permit-free training. Instead, non-residents in research posts need a work permit, which can only be given on the condition that there is no candidate with residence eligibility, even if the non-resident is more suiteed for the post. Such non-residents have to make do with inferior posts which are called 'Research Registrar', 'Research Fellow', etc.; and exist only to exploit them for clinical service without paying the cost of training, accomodation, relocation, etc. Worse still, despite having no support for real research or publication, they find themselves even less employable at the end of a job precisely because they couldn't achieve the higher degree, publications, etc. that others in five-star research positions managed. Your paper makes an excellent argument that research and academics should be global. But before people rush to set up more international collaborations, may I request that people set their own stables in order? It would be great if overseas doctors were allowed to stay indefinitely with just the condition that they should demonstrate that they have a new job every time the old one runs out. But as a first step, can the Royal Colleges and Universities persuade the British Home Office to recognise that research posts offer essential training in an area in great demand, and should therefore be suitable for permit free training? Competing interests: None declared |
|||
|
|
|||
|
Jay Ilangaratne, Founder Medical-Journals.com
Send response to journal:
|
Arvindan Veiraiah raises an important issue which unjustly denies overseas doctors from entering into academic medicine.Indeed, the Royal Colleges,Universities,Home Office, and the BMA must have known of this adverse visa requirement which had already affected thousands of overseas qualified doctors, but nothing seems to have been done by the authorities to rectify this anomaly. It is clar such 'unresticted stay' requirement is something that a condsiderable proportion of overseas doctors cannot comply with,thus potentially, such policy/requirement amounts to indirect discrimination per Race Relations Act 1976(as amended).Indeed, Universities in particular should be cautious if they continue to apply such criteria in relation to academic appointments. Hence,if an oveseas-qualified doctor had been denied the chance of entry into academic medicine,purely on the basis of his/her inability to satisfy the visa requirements that Veiraiah had identified,then one should seek appropriate legal advice to explore the possibility of an indirect race discrimination claim against the relevant authorities.BMA members should not hesitate contacting the relevant IRO or legal department. Competing interests: None declared |
|||
|
|
|||
|
Richard G Fiddian-Green, FRCS, FACS c/o Herhold, Maitland and Co, 44 Dover Street, London W1.
Send response to journal:
|
"Improving the health workforce through increased numbers and improved distribution and skill mix of providers is contingent on identifying and addressing the gender dimensions of enrolment, curriculum, and promotion in academic medicine"(1). I do not believe the Null hypothesis, that there is no difference between the outcomes of patients treated by males and females, has ever been tested and stratified according to specialty. What of the Null hypothesis that there is no difference in the outcome of patients treated by medical graduates from different countries? The conclusion that, "A better evidence base related to gender and academic medicine is needed", is entirely appropriate. Until that evidence base is available, however, the conclusion that "Improving gender equity is essential to the future of academic medicine" cannot be sustained. The diversity in medical education in the US has been legally enforced on the grounds that it is "both morally and legally" a "compelling state interest"(2). Just what that means has not been defined? One possiblity is that it means that the US constitutional guarantee of equal rights under the law might be under attack because of the possibility of exposure of the gross deficiencies in the standard of care. 1. Laura Reichenbach and Hilary Brown Gender and academic medicine: impacts on the health workforce BMJ 2004; 329: 792-795 2. DeVille K, Kopelman LM. Diversity, trust, and patient care: affirmative action in medical education 25 years after Bakke. J Med Philos. 2003 Aug;28(4):489-516. Competing interests: Male |
|||
|
|
|||
|
Arvindan Veiraiah, LAT Clinical Pharmacology Llandough Hospital, CF64 2XX
Send response to journal:
|
Richard G Fiddian-Green, What do you mean by: "The diversity in medical education in the US has been legally enforced on the grounds that it is "both morally and legally" a "compelling state interest"(2). Just what that means has not been defined? One possiblity is that it means that the US constitutional guarantee of equal rights under the law might be under attack because of the possibility of exposure of the gross deficiencies in the standard of care." Could you explain the last sentence? Arvind Competing interests: None declared |
|||
|
|
|||
|
Richard G Fiddian-Green, FRCS, FACS c/o Herhold, Maitland and C, 44 Dover Street, London W1.
Send response to journal:
|
The answer to your question might lie in the denial of the existence of and causes of the American Disease and the suppression of my efforts to expose it and define its causes. Competing interests: None declared |
|||
|
|
|||
|
Selena F. Gray, President, Medical Women's Federation MWF, Tavistock House North, Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9HX
Send response to journal:
|
Reichenbach and Brown in their article point out the need to build an evidence base upon which to base a discussion of gender issues within academic medicine. We would strongly support this recommendation. It is particlarly striking that the recent report from the Council of Heads of Medical School(1)which detailed a worrying decline in the numbers of clinical academics in the UK over the period 2001 to 2003 contained no data on the male:female ratio of clinical academics. Given these serious concerns about the current and future clinical academic workforce, together with the current demography of medical schools(2), we suggest that it would be extremely helpful to have background data on the sex of clinical academics. This would help to ensure that universities are indeed drawing on the widest possible pool of talents, or if they are not, to consider what if any further action is required. 1.Aideen Silke. Clinical Academic Staffing Levels in UK Medical and Dental Schools. The Council of Heads of Medical Schools. May 2004 2. The demograpy of medical schools: a discusssion paper. British Medical Association. June 2004. Competing interests: The Medical Women's Federation is an independent charity which aims to support the personal and professional development of women in medicine |
|||