Medical students are being let down

It’s allocation day for junior doctor jobs. Soon-to-be medical graduates across the UK find out what deanery they will work in upon finishing university. While it should be an exciting time for Britain’s future medics, recent changes to the system have sparked outrage as students hoping to work close to friends and family find out they have been sent halfway across the country instead.

Criticism has long been directed at the way in which foundation programme jobs have been dished out. Foundation years 1 and 2 provide compulsory training to graduating doctors, completion of which leaves one a fully registered medic and able to progress further into training. You might expect a medical student to become increasingly excited about their vocation as they near the end of their degree – but an increasingly randomised, UK-wide allocation system has, for many, dulled that enthusiasm.

Once upon a time, medical graduates were able to apply directly to hospitals – often sites where they had gained clinical experience and made professional contacts during medical school – through an informal process sometimes requiring an interview for more competitive roles.