Undergraduate rheumatology teaching in the UK: a survey of current practice and changes since 1990

Undergraduate medical teaching is important in a number of respects: it lays the foundation for future practice, skills and attitudes, forms a basis for lifelong learning and in some cases the quality of undergraduate teaching may determine career choices later in life [1]. Medical undergraduate teaching in the UK was reviewed extensively in 1993 and far‐reaching recommendations were made in the General Medical Council (GMC) document Tomorrow's doctors[2]. These recommendations particularly focused on training in clinical skills and emphasized the importance of integration both vertically with the basic sciences and horizontally with other specialty areas. There was also an increased emphasis on social and psychological aspects of disease and disability, and a primary care viewpoint. Similar recommendations about rheumatology undergraduate education were made by a working party representing the UK rheumatology education bodies, the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) and the Arthritis Research Campaign (ARC) [3]. The provision and methods of undergraduate rheumatology teaching in the UK were last reviewed in 1990 [4] 3 yr before these recommendations were made. It is therefore timely to reappraise the situation and to assess the impact, if any, of the recommendations of the GMC, the BSR and the ARC on undergraduate rheumatology education in the UK. Change proceeds slowly in most large institutions, so we felt that 4 yr after these important reports was an appropriate time to assess medical schools' responses.