British Aid to Medical Schools in Developing Countries

Abstract

If the British allocation for overseas aid is increased more generous agreements could be made with host universities and with expatriate staff. It would greatly stimulate overseas service by specialist trainees if the professional colleges and the universities agreed that they would be willing to substitute in their training programmes a year or two of service in an overseas medical school for one or more of their orthodox appointments. Consideration might be given by the councils for postgraduate education to ways of facilitating service overseas by specialist trainees and young consultants. The suggestion of the Royal Commission for the expansion of departmental staff establishments and training pools requires that the temporary expatriate occupying a supernumerary post is absorbed into the establishment on his return. While this may be done now in individual cases by personal arrangement a national agreement between universities and the N.H.S. would be necessary for these secondments to be made on the large scale commensurate to the need. For other returning young doctors not yet in specialist training schemes an assurance that applications for appointments by those who had worked in developing countries would receive favourable weighting, by both university and N.H.S. selection committees, would be very helpful. © 1972, British Medical Journal Publishing Group. All rights reserved.