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Biomedical subjects

R Wakeford

Publications and source records attributed to R Wakeford.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

The MB PhD programme. Training to be a clinician-scientist in the UK.

Rapid changes in the universities and in the organisation of the National Health Service are altering the perception of opportunity for clinical scientists in training. Cambridge University has established an integrated programme that combines training in scientific research and clinical medicine leading to the MB, BChir, and PhD degrees. The need for this and other options in the development of careers for aspiring medical researchers is reviewed here.

Education, Medical↗
PubMed1992

Does the MRCGP examination discriminate against Asian doctors?

OBJECTIVE: To ascertain whether the membership examination for the Royal College of General Practitioners (MRCGP) discriminates against doctors of Indian subcontinent ethnic origin ("Asian doctors"). DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of data from five administrations of the MRCGP examination (December 1988-December 1990). SETTING: United Kingdom national examination body. SUBJECTS: 3686 doctors taking the examination for the first time, 244 of whom were classified as Asian, the remainder as non-Asian. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Comparison of performance in each of the written and oral components of the examination between Asian doctors, identified by their names and classified into subgroups by countries of birth and primary medical training from data provided at registration, and non-Asian doctors. RESULTS: On written components of the examination (multiple choice paper mean score Asians versus non-Asians 42.3 v 48.6, modified essay paper 40.9 v 48.9, practice topic/critical reading paper 41.5 v 48.7, all p less than 0.001 by t testing). But analysis by countries of birth and primary training showed that these differences were due largely to poor performance by certain groups of Asian doctors, especially those born and trained in the Indian subcontinent or elsewhere outside the United Kingdom. Asian doctors born and trained in the United Kingdom and those born in Africa or the West Indies and trained in the United Kingdom performed similarly to the non-Asian doctors. CONCLUSIONS: The examination does not systematically discriminate against Asian doctors, but the poor performance of the two subgroups of Asians is cause for serious concern and requires investigation.

Asia↗
PubMed1987

The correlates of research success.

A survey was carried out of the undergraduate backgrounds and research achievements of 885 (94.1%) of all 940 medically qualified professors and readers in medical faculties in the United Kingdom. A total of 217 (24.5%) of the graduates in these senior academic positions had graduated from Oxford or Cambridge and 137 (15.5%) had an intercalated BSc. The corresponding figures for a control group matched for sex and date of graduation were 118 (13.3%) for Oxford and Cambridge (academic to control odds ratio 2.11:1) and 34 (3.8%) for the BSc (odds ratio 4.58:1). Those with an intercalated BSc in the clinical specialties raised substantially more research grants from the Medical Research Council than their peers from Oxford and Cambridge or those without a BSc. The Oxford and Cambridge group raised more grants in the non-clinical specialties. Bibliometric analysis was carried out on the United Kingdom graduates within the broad specialty of medicine (n = 218) matched for date of graduation. Academics with a BSc had a better publication record over 10 years (median number of original publications 72) than the Oxford and Cambridge group (median 59) and a substantially better record than those from other schools without a BSc (median 46). Citation analysis was carried out on subsets of the above sample matched for date of graduation and frequency of publication. Those with an intercalated BSc were cited more often (8.04 citations/paper) than the Oxford and Cambridge graduates (7.63) and substantially more than their peers without a BSc (4.16). These data show very clearly that research training or experience, or both, as an undergraduate has a substantial influence on career development and correlates positively with subsequent research performance many years later.

Achievement↗
PubMed1986

General practitioners' retirement plans and what influences them.

The results of a study of the attitudes of 197 general practitioners aged 55 and over towards retirement and their plans for retirement are reported. Few wished to retire very early, and only a further 40% definitely planned a clean break from practice. Nearly half planned on taking "24 hour retirement," even though most (78%) will be entitled to full pension rights. Job satisfaction and health were the most important factors influencing the timing of the retirement. Seventy seven per cent thought that there should be no formal retirement policy, 79% wanted no compulsory retirement age, and 80% wanted no further controls or safeguards directed at older practising general practitioners. Half of the general practitioners in the sample were not looking forward to retirement. Personal discussions with respondents aged 65 and over suggested that there are many older general practitioners who plan to practise for some time, who feel that they will know when the time has come to stop, but who often express the hope that they may "die in harness." A large proportion of older doctors are in single-handed practice. In view of this, and also of the evidence from North America which suggests that older doctors may practise inferior medicine, it is thought that the ability of such general practitioners to evaluate their competence should be studied by methods such as peer assessment techniques.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1985

Where do medically qualified researchers come from?

262 doctors in research oriented posts completed a questionnaire on their career and influences upon it. 14% did not regard themselves as committed to a career in research. Of those who did, less than one-third made their choice by graduation; almost half did so 3 or more years after qualification. For 41%, research was a planned career; 39% developed their interest within a job that was not necessarily research oriented; and 20% entered research fortuitously. 29% of the sample had undertaken intercalated degrees. 50% had a higher medical degree, 14% had a non-medical research degree, and a further 11% had both; 25% possessed neither. The most frequently reported positive influence on the decision to follow a research career was intrinsic motivation (eg, interest in a particular subject), though a teacher or mentor had a considerable influence on the decision of 59% of respondents. Only 40% of respondents did some research at medical school; of these, 43% thought that it had positively affected them considerably, and only 16% that it had not done so at all.

Career Choice↗
PubMed1984

For debate . . . medical research output 1973-81: a romp around the United Kingdom research centres.

In order to measure output of medical research in the United Kingdom, the computerised database of Excerpta Medica was used to count the number of publications emanating from each centre of research based on a medical school in 1973-81. Data were amalgamated for the first four years (1973-6) and the final four years (1978-81) and the two sets of data were compared. Eight centres showed a substantial change (20% or more) between the first and second periods. In London three medical schools showed an increase in output and one showed a decrease in output. Elsewhere Leicester, Nottingham, and Southampton schools showed an increase and Bristol showed a decrease. The overall contribution of Cambridge did not increase over the decade but the proportion of clinical papers among those produced at Cambridge did increase. There are deficiencies in this type of exercise as all articles are treated equally, but probably some of these problems could be overcome in a more sophisticated analysis. Some measure of weighting of the importance of each paper needs to be devised.

Academies and Institutes↗
PubMed1983

Thirty years on: examination performance and career success of the 1950-1 intake of Cambridge medical students.

The relation between preclinical tripos and clinical examination results and subsequent career success of 188 medical graduates of Cambridge University was measured using five indicators of success. A generally positive relation was found, but this was not specific enough to make accurate individual predictions. Present levels of appointment were more closely related to clinical than preclinical results. No support was found for the local assertion that "2.1s" do better than "firsts" in clinical medicine. Since undergraduate examination results seem to be inaccurate predictors of later performance they should not be used as the principal evidence in making selection decisions.

Achievement↗