School of Medicine Deanery, Ninewells Hospital & Medical School, Dundee, DD1 9SY, UK.
Institute of Education for Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, West Wing, Polwarth Building, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD, UK.
BMC Med Educ. 2018 Jan 5;18(1):6. doi: 10.1186/s12909-017-1115-9.
Educating doctors is expensive and poor performance by future graduates can literally cost lives. Whilst the practice of medicine is highly evidence based, medical education is much less so. Research on medical school selection, undergraduate progression, Fitness to Practise (FtP) and postgraduate careers has been hampered across the globe by the challenges of uniting the data required. This paper describes the creation, structure and access arrangements for the first UK-wide attempt to do so.
A collaborative approach has created a research database commencing with all entrants to UK medical schools in 2007 and 2008 (UKMED Phase 1). Here the content is outlined, governance arrangements considered, system access explained, and the potential implications of this new resource discussed. The data currently include achievements prior to medical school entry, admissions tests, graduation point information and also all subsequent data collected by the General Medical Council, including FtP, career progression, annual National Training Survey (NTS) responses, career choice and postgraduate exam performance data. UKMED has grown since the pilot phase with additional datasets; all subsequent years of students/trainees and stronger governance processes. The inclusion of future cohorts and additional information such as admissions scores or bespoke surveys or assessments is now being piloted. Thus, for instance, new scrutiny can be applied to selection techniques and the effectiveness of educational interventions. Data are available free of charge for approved studies from suitable research groups worldwide.
It is anticipated that UKMED will continue on a rolling basis. This has the potential to radically change the volume and types of research that can be envisaged and, therefore, to improve standards, facilitate workforce planning and support the regulation of medical education and training. This paper aspires to encourage proposals to utilise this exciting resource.
培养医生的成本高昂，未来毕业生表现不佳可能会直接导致生命损失。虽然医学实践高度依赖证据，但医学教育的证据基础却要薄弱得多。由于全球范围内都面临着整合所需数据的挑战，因此，对医学院校选择、本科阶段进展、执业能力（FtP）和研究生职业发展的研究一直受到阻碍。本文介绍了首次在英国范围内尝试进行这种整合的创建、结构和访问安排。
通过合作方式创建了一个研究数据库，该数据库从 2007 年和 2008 年开始包含所有进入英国医学院的学生（UKMED 阶段 1）。本文概述了其内容、考虑了治理安排、解释了系统访问方式，并讨论了这一新资源的潜在影响。目前的数据包括入学前的成就、招生考试、毕业成绩信息，以及由英国医学总会（General Medical Council）收集的所有后续数据，包括 FtP、职业发展、年度国家培训调查（NTS）回复、职业选择和研究生考试成绩数据。UKMED 在试点阶段之后不断发展壮大，增加了数据集；所有后续年份的学生/受训者以及更强的治理流程。目前正在试点纳入未来的队列和其他信息，如招生分数或定制调查或评估。例如，现在可以对选拔技术和教育干预措施的有效性进行新的审查。符合条件的全球研究小组可免费获取经过批准的研究使用这些数据。
预计 UKMED 将继续滚动发展。这有可能从根本上改变可以设想的研究数量和类型，从而提高标准、促进劳动力规划，并支持医学教育和培训的监管。本文旨在鼓励提出利用这一令人兴奋的资源的建议。
