Medical deans snub the health secretary

Rhona MacDonald studentbmj

Medical deans in England have snubbed the health secretary, Alan Milburn, by refusing to forward a letter from him to new medical students. The deans object to the health secretary's expressed hope that the students will work in the NHS in the future. In the letter addressed to "new medical student" Mr Milburn encourages students to "join the NHS team in the future" and hopes that students will find the proposals in the NHS Plan for England announced in July 2000 "beneficial."

Ken Flemming, head of the medical sciences division at Oxford, said: "I'm pleased to say that a very high proportion of Oxford educated doctors commit themselves to working within the NHS, but I believe, in common with many other medical schools, that it is important that during their studies they are encouraged to have a global perspective."

The medical dean of Guy's, King's, and St Thomas's Medical and Dental School and chairman of the GMC's education committee, Dr Graeme Catto, told the studentBMJ that "medical schools must have a much wider role than simply producing foot soldiers for the NHS. Some entering medicine now will still be in practice in 2040; they will require the educational skills and motivation to remain at the forefront of change--simply training them for today's tasks will not be sufficient."

He went on to explain that "medical education was around before the NHS and will probably be around after." He also said that medical education in Scotland had been an integral part of the university system for more than 500 years. In England it had only recently been seen as an academic activity as opposed to a "trade" or vocation. He said: "The NHS benefits enormously from not being both monopoly employer and monopoly educator despite the razzle dazzle of the university of the NHS."

The Department of Health had not anticipated any problems with the letter, but a spokesperson said that it was working with the medical deans to redraft it.



studentBMJ 2001;09:261-304 August ISSN 0966-6494