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The Medical Schools Council welcomes the decision to embark upon an engagement exercise in the four UK countries to assess the implications of implementing the Shape of Training recommendation to bring forward the point of full registration with the General Medical Council to graduation.

The Shape of Training report suggests enhanced patient involvement in undergraduate medical education and provides mechanisms to improve the quality of patient care. There is no suggestion from any party that undergraduate medical education should be shortened. It is the point of registration with the GMC which is under review.

A change in the point of registration would:

• Recognise the dramatic increase in supervision and the significant change in the learning environment since 1950, when provisional registration was introduced
• Remove the inconsistency wherein the F1 year (the first year of employment in the NHS) is deemed to be under the auspices of the university, but in practice is not
• Align medicine with dentistry and with the majority of countries overseas

The proposed move would enable all UK medical students to achieve full registration when they successfully pass their university medical degree at a standard set to ensure patient safety. 

Transition from student to practitioner has to happen at some point and employers have a duty to ensure that their staff are appropriately supervised and do not work beyond the limits of their competence. It is not suggested that changes would be needed to the Foundation Programme if full registration occurs on graduation. 

Such a move would, however, raise complex issues which will need to be addressed during the proposed engagement process. 

The Medical Schools Council looks forward to working with partner organisations including those in the devolved administrations to resolve these issues for the benefit of patients.

-ENDS- 

Notes for editors: 

1. The Medical Schools Council represents the interests and ambitions of UK medical schools as they relate to the generation of national health, wealth and knowledge through biomedical research and the profession of medicine. For further information about the work of the Medical Schools Council, see www.medschools.ac.uk.
2. The Shape of Training Review was launched on 29 October 2013 as an examination of postgraduate medical education and training in the UK. For more information, see www.shapeoftraining.co.uk.
3. For more information on this press release, please contact Edward Knight, Communications and Website Officer, on 020 7419 5427, or edward.knight@medschools.ac.uk.