Medicine degree apprenticeship

Does anyone know about this scheme and what a levels u need to apply?

It's not expected to start until next year, I recall hearing.

I think it'll be open to school leavers! I have my questions about it though. I think there's a high chance that doctor apprenticeships will just create a two-class system of doctors.

I hope they will be open to school leavers. I know the Government have pitched it as if they will be. Call me sceptical but why haven't Nursing apprenticeships generally been made available to school leavers? It's a few years since they were introduced and it's very rare that any of these apprenticeships are made available to anyone other than existing employees already in healthcare roles.

You might be correct that there will be those who see the apprenticeship route as second best. Personally I think that an apprentice after working under supervision appropriate to their level of experience in multidisciplinary clinical teams for five years of training will benefit from a more authentic learning experience and greater patient contact than students on conventional programmes. As long as care is taken so that the theory side of things is of similar standard I see no reason why the apprenticeship route shouldn't produce very good doctors.

I'm not doubting the fact that an apprenticeship could train doctors to the same standard as a medicine degree, but I feel like the general public might distrust apprenticeship doctors and university-trained doctors might also treat them as second-class doctors for not going "the proper way". I don't think it's a good idea to have two radically different pathways to become a doctor because some quarters will always doubt that both are trained to the same standard and it will be a breeding ground for resentment - university trained doctors will go into a lot of debt to become doctors while the apprentices will be paid to get to the same place in the end. It doesn't feel entirely right. Particularly on courses which are split into pre-clinical and clinical, with the clinical years being basically like an apprenticeship, except that you're getting in debt and not getting paid at all... unlike your apprenticeship counterparts.

It'll be interesting to see what actually happens, but I doubt that the apprenticeships will be deemed a great success, not due to any inherent flaw they might have but what the general public snd university doctors will make of them.