Halting medical doctor degree apprenticeships is a sensible decision

Abstract

Medical apprenticeships were scrapped to avoid creating a two tiered system in medical education, writes Rob Tucker The government has reportedly ceased further funding of the controversial doctor apprenticeship programmes.1 The scheme has faced considerable opposition from the medical community and lobbying by the BMA from the start. Proponents initially argued that these programmes would widen access into medicine, but this argument began to fall apart as further details emerged. Medical doctor apprenticeships would not have delivered on the aim of expanding access into medicine, instead we need effective widening participation schemes in medical education. The timelines to deliver the medical apprenticeships were always tight. In 2022, NHS England set out a tender for medical schools to develop a new programme offering the use of the apprenticeship levy funding for the first time to medical degrees. The pilot medical schools were confirmed in January 2023. NHS England then needed to find willing local employment providers, …