Doctor apprenticeships risk return to a two tier medical system

Nusrath asks for clarification about the new doctor apprenticeship scheme.1 Undergraduate apprenticeships will provide opportunities for students to learn medicine that is grounded in communities, primary care, and prevention.2 This longitudinal learning is essential for students to recognise the contribution of primary care to strong healthcare systems.3 By creating divergent training pathways, however, apprenticeships risk a return to 18th century divisions between rural apothecaries and urban specialists. This division would be worsened by the forthcoming expansion of medical student numbers and Labour’s proposal to replace the partnership model of general practice with a single level, contracted workforce. An “army” of mobile “portfolio” general practitioners under central ministerial control will cut traditional ties to local communities and break the long term relationships that are critical to patient care and doctor wellbeing.4 Instead, GP consultations will become one-off windows for directing patients to specialist services. The ultimate beneficiary of these workforce changes…
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