Acronyms soup

Medics seem to like acronyms. The use of abbreviations and shorthand extends beyond the clinical setting and enters into the working lives of doctors too. The Student BMJ has published lots of articles about the UK system in the past, and if you don't know your SSC from your GMC hopefully this short-and by no means comprehensive-guide to acronyms will clarify things a little. Beware though, the UK postgraduate medical training setup is changing rapidly and no doubt in a few years time, there will be another array of acronyms to get to know.

NHS-The National Health Service was created in 1948 to provide a comprehensive health service to all citizens of the UK based on need and not the ability to pay. The NHS is mainly funded by the taxpayer and is managed by the government's Department of Health (DoH). The structure and financing of the NHS are currently undergoing large scale changes.1

MBChB and MBBS-Bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery is the qualification awarded to people who successfully graduate from medical school. Medical degrees differ in length depending on previous undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications. Some medical schools offer an additional qualification as part of the course. They may also allow students to study a different subject for a year resulting in a BSc (bachelor of science) or a BA (bachelor of arts) and at some medical schools, this is compulsory. For links to the faculties to find out more about the different qualifications visit www.chms.ac.uk/fschlweb.html.

SSM or SSC-Special study …