BackgroundThere is a lack of surgeons in the field of renal transplantation, with a predicted shortage of over 20 consultants by the year 2005. Early positive exposure to the field, commencing at undergraduate level, has been identified as being vital to improving rates of recruitment. This study was performed to assess the exposure of undergraduates to the field of renal transplantation during medical education in the UK.MethodsIn October 2004 a questionnaire was sent to the clinical deans of all UK medical schools regarding undergraduate exposure to renal transplantation.ResultsTwenty-five replies were received, giving a response rate of 96%. All but one school had a centre for renal transplantation in their region. Three schools (12%) gave no formal lecture or tutorial on the subject during the entire course. Of the remainder, between one to four formal sessions were provided, ranging from 15 minutes to 3 hours duration.Six medical schools (24%) provided no compulsory clinical exposure to renal transplantation, with a further five (20%) saying that students may receive exposure by chance. The average length of attachment was three weeks. Twenty-one medical schools (84%) provided between 1–10% of students a choice to study renal transplantation, as part of electives and special study modules.ConclusionThis study reveals a variation between, and within, medical schools in the levels of formal teaching. If the trends in recruitment to renal transplantation are to be reversed, we have an obligation to improve upon the medical education that students currently receive.
The present study used a mixed-methods approach to understand the challenges faced by Australian higher education institutions in supporting the career development of students from culturally and linguistically diverse migrant and refugee backgrounds. Specifically, this project included a desktop audit of all Australian universities, data from a survey (
n
= 32) and interviews with staff in various functions (
n
= 10). Four main challenges were identified: (1) difficulties in identifying and engaging with students; (2) a lack of targeted resources and programs; (3) difficulties faced by students in engaging with employers; and (4) a lack of work-readiness and unfamiliarity of Australian work culture.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.