Medical Apprenticeships. Explain it to me like I’m 5.

[W0tnow]

…because I don’t understand. According to this article, these apprentices will achieve a medical degree after 5 years of on the job training and academic study.

But the traditional route involves 5-6 years of study, (including supervised patient contact, but mostly study) and is, by all accounts, incredibly intense. How can you attend medical school, work in a hospital as an apprentice doctor, from day 1, and achieve the same qualifications in the same amount of time? How is that possible? Who is going to be supervising/ training these apprentices? The same staff who currently train first year doctors?

If I understand this correctly, (and I’m sure I don’t) the only difference between the two qualifications, is that one comes with a massive debt.

https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/06/30/nhs-doctor-apprenticeships-everything-you-need-to-know/

Again you have to look at why the apprentice route is being touted. There is no shortage of people applying to medicine (at the moment) and the demographic is changing. Of course one of the problems is the number of women applying who , historically , work part time or shorter hours than men.

The apprenticeship will only make sense if it puts bodies on wards to do donkey work and relieve pressure on existing staff. Indeed the blurb talks of people working alongside studying.

So perhaps you could see apprentices doing more of the phlebotomy work ( a mixed blessing for anyone who's seen a fourth year attempting to put a cannula in) or clerking in . The difficulty being whilst they are working they are not learning (they will work within their "competencies") and anyone can see that within the needs of the current medicine course there is no slack for people to work at the same time.

The touted advantage is it will attract a larger demographic , including those who cannot afford to study without bring in some money.

You could argue that a bursary scheme , similar to that offered by the armed services, where your fees are paid and a small wage is paid in return for a set amount of service afterwards , would achieve the same aim. However that would not bring a captive semi trained work force on tap quickly , which apprenticeships would.

The cynical would say this is nothing about improving medical training or access to medical training and more about getting working bums on seats , quickly, into the NHS .

The cynic in you is completely correct

I would also add that most school leavers take out large student loans to study- they can’t actually ‘afford’ to study!

Surely if it’s the same length of time, everyone would want to do this and not amass a huge amount of debt.