This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Medical student placements announced
07/09/2006
The distribution of clinical placements of St Andrews medical students to complete their courses amongst Scotland's clinical medical schools, were announced today.
Last year, in responding to Sir Kenneth Calman's Review of Basic Medical Education in Scotland the Executive promised a major boost to the medical workforce in future decades by increasing the number of medical undergraduates completing their degrees in Scotland.
One hundred extra places are to be created for students who will do their first three years of medical study at St Andrews University before completing their undergraduate degrees at Scotland's other medical schools.
Mr Kerr announced today that those places would be distributed in line with recommendations made to the Executive by the Board of Academic Medicine. The places will be distributed as follows:
- Glasgow: 50
- Edinburgh: 30
- Dundee: 10
- Aberdeen: 10
In announcing the Executive's decision Mr Kerr said: "We are committed to securing the medical workforce of the future in the places in which they will be needed most.
"I would like to thank the Board of Academic Medicine for their recommendations, agreed by all the Universities involved, for the distribution of these clinical placements.
"We have accepted the Board's view that the largest single number of places should go to Glasgow.
"This is good news for patients and public in Scotland, good news for the NHS and good news for the Universities who are being invited to extend the work they do in producing more excellent doctors, many of whom we hope will choose to pursue a career in NHS Scotland."
The Executive will work with the Universities and Board of Academic Medicine over the coming months to plan the detailed implementation timetable for the introduction of the new places.
In responding to Sir Kenneth Calman's Review of Basic Medical Education in Scotland last summer the Executive accepted Sir Kenneth's recommendation that St Andrews medical school be fully integrated within Scottish medical education. The Executive opted to retain 100 St Andrews students in Scotland.
In response to a request from the Executive and the Scottish Funding Councils (SFC), the Board for Academic Medicine established a Clinical Training Review Group to consider and provide authoritative advise on the options for implementing this recommendation.
The Review Group undertook formal, structured visits to each of Scotland's 4 clinical medical schools in March/April 2006, to explore issues highlighted by the Executive and SFC as important in determining the distribution of the proposed new clinical places. Issues considered across each of the medical schools included educational capacity, curriculum fit with St Andrews; and the potential yield of future graduates and doctors for NHS Scotland.