The state of medical education and practice

We have published a new report, The state of medical education and practice 2011. It uses our data and that of others to provide a picture of the medical profession today and some of the challenges it faces.

We plan to publish the report annually to provide an evolving picture of medicine in the UK.

‘The GMC is responsible for overseeing the entirety of a UK registered doctor’s career, from the first day at medical school, through to specialist training and ongoing practice. Our data reflects this and we are keen to share with the profession, educators, employers and patients the insights we have gained and the questions they raise,’ said Niall Dickson, Chief Executive of the GMC. 

‘To be effective, we need to analyse, understand and share our data more than we have done in the past. We need to be more proactive, finding ways to support and improve good medical practice rather than waiting for things to go wrong.

‘This is the first time the GMC has attempted to pull together its data in this way – we hope it will be widely read by front line clinicians, policy makers and everyone committed to driving up standards of medical practice in this country.’

What does the report cover?

The report covers three main areas:

• who the UK’s doctors are
• how well education and training are preparing doctors for practice
• what works well and where things are going wrong.

The final section considers what changes are needed to improve standards of medical practice and calls for debate or action in six key areas, set out in our six page summary report (pdf).

Where can I find the report?

The report can be downloaded from our website. We have also provided a summary document (pdf). If you would like a hard copy of the report, please email publications@gmc-uk.org.

What happens next?

We will be calling for debate and action on each of the six areas  identified in the report. An immediate action we are taking forward is the development of an induction programme for doctors new to UK practice.

The findings of the report will also be discussed with leaders in medical education and training at the GMC’s annual education conference on 1 November and at further events over the coming year.

We will update our web pages when new materials or information become available.