THE campaign to find foundation jobs for all trainee doctors has been stepped up by student leaders.
The BMA has pledged to do everything it can to ensure every final year finds an F1 post. Student leader Karin Purshouse said the organisation would be pressing the UK Foundation Programme Office to make sure it takes “all necessary steps” to implement its contingency plan, which was triggered by an oversubscription for places.
Last month, a rise in demand meant there was a surplus of 180 applicants – or two per cent – for 7,073 foundation school places due to start this August. The UKFPO said those trainees had been put on a reserve list “pending allocation to foundation training programmes over the coming months.”
Because of the drop-out rates of previous years, the UKFPO said it was confident that all those on the reserve list will be allocated jobs. Four people withdrew from the process just before the foundation schools allocation this year.
Of the 180 on the reserve list, 110 are from UK medical schools. There were 267 eligible applicants from non-UK medical schools this year — up from 167 in 2009.
UKFPO national director Derek Gallen said more than 90 per cent of the 7,073 final years successfully allocated to posts were granted their first-choice foundation schools.
Ms Purshouse said: “We have pushed the UKFPO hard to make sure students get the proper support, and we have been reassured that there will be a named person at each medical school who can offer that support and advice.”
Advice on the UKFPO contingency plan is available online at the Foundation Programme website here
This page was correct at the time of publication. Any guidance is intended as general guidance for members only. If you are a member and need specific advice relating to your own circumstances, please contact one of our advisers.
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