National medical exam will ensure 'doctor quality'
21-02-2008
Calls have been made for a national medical exam to ensure the quality of newly-qualified doctors.
Professor Chris McManus of University College London told the BBC that a national standard of assessment was needed as universities set their own exams to test medical students.
This follows research published in the BMC Medicine journal that showed out of 5,800 medical students taking the postgraduate Membership of the Royal College of Physicians test, those from Newcastle, Oxford and Cambridge medical schools performed best.
"Not all medical schools are equal. We assume, because there are national standards that all graduates have the necessary skills, but there is no way of comparing performance," Professor McManus remarked.
He also noted the differing quality of graduates from medical schools around the UK.
NHS training posts will only be available to UK medical students from 2009, following concerns by the government that home-grown students may miss out on training.
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