Alumnus Dominic Proctor (MSc Clinical Education, 2019) has won the undergraduate category in the ‘Excellent Medical Education’ Programme.

Medical School alumnus awarded prize for ‘Excellent Medical Education’

Alumnus Dominic Proctor (MSc Clinical Education, 2019) has won the undergraduate category in the ‘Excellent Medical Education’ Programme.

The programme is a set of national prizes established jointly by ASME (Association for the Study of Medical Education) and the GMC (General Medical Council) to fund high-quality medical education research, development and innovation. 

The programme is intended to support research which is related to the innovation, development, implementation and sustainability of excellent medical education which has an impact at either the individual (medical students, doctors in training, SAS doctors and consultants, and/or patients) or systems level (e.g. informing or leading to organisational change).  Three awards were available up to the value of £5000, across undergraduate and postgraduate/CPD medical education.

Dominic, who is now a FY1 Doctor at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, won with his submission Investigating UK Medical Student Attitudes Towards Working Abroad: A Realist Evaluation.

He said: “The idea for the project came about during my MSc Clin Ed course during my intercalation year at Exeter Med School, the aim being to study UK medical student attitudes towards emigration in light of the increasing number of UK doctors choosing to leave the UK in pursuit of careers abroad, particularly Australia/New Zealand. 

“Most of the government initiatives to combat the exodus of doctors from the NHS have been aimed at doctors, but based on the anecdotal evidence from my cohort at medical school I suspect this may be too little too late. While the overall flow of healthcare workers is still towards the UK, the increasing financial burden of higher education and difficult working conditions in the NHS are changing the circumstances in which students are studying, which may be contributing to the increasing number of individuals choosing to work abroad. 

“By studying these attitudes we would hope to better understand the pushes away from and pulls towards medical careers both in the UK and abroad.  Through this we would hope to identify ways in which we can improve retention of doctors in the NHS and ensure medical students across the country are getting an educational experience that meets their needs as bright, young professionals.

“We are delighted and incredibly grateful to have the support of ASME and the GMC in carrying out what we feel to be an important piece of research that addresses one of the most significant issues facing the NHS at the present time.”

Date: 19 April 2021