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Should postgraduate training places be reserved for UK graduates? No

BMJ 2007; 335 doi: 10.1136/bmj.39302.403021.94 (Published 20 September 2007)
Cite this as: BMJ 2007;335:591

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  1. Edwin Borman, consultant anaesthetist
  1. University Hospitals, Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Coventry CV2 2DX
  1. edwin{at}borman.demon.co.uk

    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

    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. …

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