The UK Medical Education Database (UKMED) provides researchers with a powerful tool to explore how individuals progress through medical education and training in the UK.
The next UKMED application window will open on 5 October 2026.
Understanding how medical students and resident doctors progress through their education and careers is crucial for improving training systems, addressing workforce needs, and ensuring equitable opportunities in healthcare.
By using comprehensive, longitudinal data, researchers can uncover valuable insights into career paths, and drive evidence-based improvements in both medical education and workforce planning.
By connecting data across the entire educational journey, from pre-university qualifications to postgraduate training and career outcomes, UKMED enables research that sheds light on the factors influencing medical careers.
UKMED supports a wide range of research topics, including:
Researchers can apply for access to the database through the UKMED website.
Applications are reviewed twice a year, and proposals must demonstrate a clear research purpose aligned with UKMED’s governance and data use policies.
We run UKMED jointly with the Medical Schools Council.
We act as the data controller for UKMED. This means we are responsible for the security of the data. We have data sharing agreements in place with data contributors and approved researchers. These make sure that the purpose of the data sharing and the responsibilities of each party are clearly understood.
Approved researchers are provided with a pseudonymised dataset which can only be accessed through a Safe Haven based at the University of Dundee. This makes sure that users are not able to identify individuals within the data or use the data for other purposes.
We work with doctors, physician associates, anaesthesia associates, those they care for and other stakeholders to support good, safe patient care across the UK.
