Inspired by this post by a biomed student who for some reason wants to do medicine I'm going to do some maths.
- Ok, so its a well known fact that it costs £250,000 to train a doctor.
- In my year there are roughly 400 students which equals a staggering £100,000,000 to train all of my year to become doctors.
- This equates to £20,000,000 per year or about £50,000 per year for each student.
These figures are even more baffling considering the incompetent nature of some of the staff who are supposed to look after us but thats another story which will have to wait till another time.
11 comments:
Good question. I asked my boss this, and he doesn't know. His university work is honorary, so is that of any SHO or SpR who gets roped into teaching you.
In outpatient clinics and theatre sessions, there is supposed to be a smaller caseload when students are present, to allow for teaching time. I don't think this happens in real life.
I can assure you that the money comes absolutely nowhere near clinical research withing university teaching departments.
I can therefore only conclude that as the money comes neither clinical care, nor payment for teaching, nor research funding, it must be taken by managament and sequestered elsewhere. My boss thinks the same.
I wonder this too.. Not that my med sch is bad, it rocks,... but the money must go somewhere :S :S
I think hopital trusts get paid large sums to take us all in!
A lot of it comes from SIFT money paid by Government to Trusts via Medical Schools to compensate for the presence (and hence 'teaching' of students). Unfortunately, as has been reported, some Trusts have been using the dosh to fund things like smoking cessation projects (was reported by BMA some months back). And the clinic lists are as long as ever, the actual teaching paltry etc. I reckon you could train a doctor with less than the sum quoted - after all, despite the system most of us turn out OK!
Yes, but if the money isn't being used for what it's intended for, that's theft.
I know, so much money...
I like the counter in the blog sidebar, by the way! Very cool!
Do you reckon that £250K covers FY1-2 too? Maybe that's where it's at...although probably not!
I agree with Cal, a very cool counter - a bit like this death clock counter I once saw.
anonymous - Sounds pretty dam plausible to me. It wouldn't surprise me if it was used to line the pockets of some fat cat managers who don't even know there are medical students in the hospitals!
chris - I'd love to see some evidence of clinics being reduced for teaching. Most of the clinics I attend are packed to the rafters. I don't think medical students get any priority there in reality which is a shame.
cal - thanks, It doesn't look too scary yet, still plenty of days left to learn things.
harry - I wondered whether that figure included the foundation years but I decided it probably didn't. And thanks.
Hi there...complete having nothing to do with your post, I just wanted to drop you a line and let you know that I've migrated to WordPress.
You can now find me and relink me at/to patientanonymous.wordpress.com
Thank you sir.
PA
I've been wondering about that, because I cannot see a statistic and not ask about its provenance.
I guess it depends on what you mean by "train" and what you mean by "dotor". Is it doctors straight out of med school, or is it doctors up until they get their Membership, or is it doctors up to the point that they become Consultants. Or maybe they took the whole cost of running all the medschools in the UK and divided by the number of graduates.
I would like to know where that came from though.
Aphra.
I think it probably goes to administration... People paid to make your life more difficult.
Libraries, executive Dean's offices, fancy buildings which are unfit for purpose, bizarrely inefficient admin systems and water dispensers for staff but not students....or that could just be what my med school does with it!
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