Whit's MMC?

So what is MMC?

I would recommend that anyone who wants to know more about this, should read Aphra Benns explanation, which I have put in the links column. But let me summarise in a nutshell.

MMC stands for 'Modernising Medical Careers'. It was a new system for junior doctors to apply for specialities, leading to consultancy posts in hospitals.

The differences between the old system and the new are striking.

1.Reduced Training Period

Under the old system, a doctor would go through approx fifteen years training before reaching a consultancy. Under the new system, this has been fast tracked to seven years.

2.Deanery Allocation of Interviews Under the old system, doctors could apply to a trust or a hospital for a job. Under the new national Clearance system, they had to apply to a deanary area. They could be offered a job anywhere in this area. When you consider that all of Scotland was one deanary area, you get the idea.

3. Medical Training Application(MTA).

Under the old system, you had to provide a CV, good academic qualifications, evidence of work in research ie academic papers, and references. You would be interviewed.
Under the new system, applicants were given a series of questions to which they had to provide 150 word answers. 75% of marks were given to these questions; 25% given to references, experience and academic suitability. A good test of writing skills, but not a good test of whether you were a suitable candidate. This was done online on a computerised system whose security was breached and crashed shortly after it was set up.

4.No Second Chances

Under the old system, if you were not successful in applying one year, you could apply the year after. This year, it was decided that unsuccessful applicants this year would be excluded from applying again. That means that if they want to specialise, they will have to leave the country. At the moment, 8000 doctors who applied look like they are going to be left out in the cold. That is a fifth of our future workforce.

So why has all this happened? I'll tell you in the next post.