Medical student places are to be cut by 2 per cent in 2013 to reduce the risk of unemployment among newly qualified doctors, following The Review of Medical and Dental School Intakes in England.
The work, commissioned by the Department of Health, recommends reducing the current target of 6,195 by 124 students from 2013. It has also called on a review of the numbers in 2014 and reassessed every three years. The hope is that it will reduce the number of Foundation Year doctors regularly being forced to find work overseas.
The report also advises keeping the cap on overseas students at 7.5%.
BMA medical students committee joint deputy chair Melody Rahman said she was pleased the number of medical student places and junior doctor jobs was being looked at more closely:
“The BMA has been concerned for a number of year that there is a real prospect of medical unemployment in the future because there are not enough jobs for the number of freshly qualified doctors leaving medical school.”
The report, produced by the Health and Education National Strategic Exchange, accepts that the decisions will not be felt for many years due to the length of medical training. It predicts the impact will not be felt on the number of fully trained doctors in medical specialties until around 2025.
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