GMC Education and Training Advisory Board 20 October 2016 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

GMC Education and Training Advisory Board

20 October 2016 Potential areas for discussion on health and disability

Entry into undergraduate medical education - perspective

• What are the challenges for prospective

medical students with health and disability issues?

• What improvements would you like to see in

the current processes?

• What would you prioritise?
• How can we implement these

improvements?

• What can the GMC do?
• What can other organisations do?
• What are the next steps?

Entry into undergraduate medical education Frequently raised issues:

• University policies do not reflect specific

needs of Medical Schools and specific circumstances of applicants to Medicine

• Adjustments and support that may be

available to medical students may differ from those considered reasonable by HEOPS, GMC or potential employers

Entry into undergraduate medical education

• What are the challenges for prospective

medical students with health and disability issues?

• Already concerned about the selection

process, compounded by concern about their health or disability hampering them further

• No central source of information. Impression
• f lack of consistency

Entry into undergraduate medical education

• Lack of consistency because..:
• HEOPS guidelines not easy to find for potential

applicants

• HEOPS guidelines not written for potential

applicants

• University policies may differ from Medical School

policies or from HEOPS guidelines

• Selectors uncertain about impact of disability on

medical school career or subsequent career as a doctor

HEOPS (Higher Education Occupational Physicians)

• Medical Students – Standards of medical

fitness to train

• First published 21/10/2010
• Current version 09/02/2016

Medical Students – Standards of medical fitness to train

• Standards are defined by GMC & DH
• HEOPS document provides guidance to

those assessing fitness to train and to meet required standards by graduation.

• Testing for immunity and infection
• Assessment of functional capacity
• Health screening questionnaire and the
• ccupational health process

HEOPS (Higher Education Occupational Physicians)

• General guidance on adjustments for

students training in regulated professions

• First published 15/08/2016
• Current version 02/09/2016

General guidance on adjustments for students training in regulated professions

• Training institutions are obliged to assess all

students entering regulated professions for fitness to train at enrolment. This includes fitness to practise in the relevant discipline after graduation.

• Assessment of fitness to meet competencies

is undertaken by assessing function, not by diagnosis.

General guidance on adjustments for students training in regulated professions

• Application by a regulator of a competence

standard to a disabled person is not disability discrimination, providing the competence standard is a proportionate means for achieving a legitimate aim.

• Example of a competence standard:
• Literacy and numeracy

• “..obtaining, recording and interpreting a

comprehensive patient history, communicating appropriately and effectively with and about patients, the public and colleagues”

• “All students must be able to prescribe drugs

safely and effectively, calculate accurate drug doses, keep accurate, legible and complete medical records”

• What adjustments can we make to these

mandatory standards of literacy and numeracy for candidates with disability?

• None. This would breach the Equality Act

and put patients at risk.

Unreasonable adjustments:

• Extra time in clinical examinations which are real-time

assessments of clinical skills and knowledge relevant to patient safety

• Provision of a personal assistant to read or write on

behalf of the student

• Provision of a personal assistant to undertake numerical

calculations on behalf of the student

• Provision of a personal assistant, qualified to practise in

the relevant discipline, to undertake mandatory practical procedures listed by the regulatory body as mandatory competencies for the discipline

• Permission to be absent permanently from training

placements

• Exemption from any mandatory competencies published

by the statutory regulatory body

Entry into undergraduate medical education

• What are the challenges for prospective

medical students with health and disability issues?

• What improvements would you like to see in

the current processes?

• What would you prioritise?
• How can we implement these

improvements?

• What can the GMC do?
• What can other organisations do?
• What are the next steps?

What can/should be done:

• Produce guidance targeted at applicants
• Part of UCAS application process
• Incorporate short questionnaire - based on

above guidance – into UCAS application

• Screen all returned questionnaires by OH

nurses

• Select those who require detailed OH

assessment, which may result in decline or a Health Clearance certificate

• Mental Health problems reported more

frequently and cause greater difficulty in the assessment of Fitness to Practice

Thank you

Any questions?