Farag Mina, Olaogun Idowu
General Practice, Health Education England (West Midlands), Birmingham, GBR.
Medicine, California Institute of Behavioral Neurosciences & Psychology, Fairfield, USA.
Cureus. 2020 Oct 1;12(10):e10750. doi: 10.7759/cureus.10750.
Although international medical graduates (IMGs) constitute considerable percentage of doctors in the National Health Service (NHS), they face several challenges in acclimatizing to the NHS health system. Communication skills, language subtleties, and career progression difficulties are among the most important challenges that overseas doctors face. Some resources are already available to support these doctors and several trusts across the UK have developed local interventions and educational programs to help their doctors bridge the gaps in their knowledge. However, there is no proof of the external validity of these programs and none are identified as effective on a national level. Senior IMGs are leading very popular and inspiring projects using digital platforms, especially social media. We identified several social media pages, groups, and websites subscribed to by hundreds of thousands of doctors in the UK and around the world, including doctors who are planning a future career in the UK. These platforms provide information, resources, support, and answers to questions posed by junior IMGs. Inspired by these projects and also by an Australian project that transformed a local IMG education program, we studied whether using digital platforms and transforming evidence-based local programs to national ones would be the best way forward to support IMGs.
尽管国际医学毕业生（IMGs）在英国国家医疗服务体系（NHS）中占相当比例的医生，但他们在适应NHS医疗系统方面面临诸多挑战。沟通技巧、语言细微差别以及职业发展困难是海外医生面临的最重要挑战之一。已经有一些资源可用于支持这些医生，英国各地的几个信托机构也制定了当地的干预措施和教育项目，以帮助他们的医生弥补知识差距。然而，没有证据表明这些项目具有外部有效性，也没有一个项目在全国范围内被认定为有效。资深IMGs正在利用数字平台，尤其是社交媒体，开展非常受欢迎且鼓舞人心的项目。我们发现了几个社交媒体页面、群组和网站，英国及世界各地数十万医生订阅了这些平台，其中包括计划在英国开启未来职业生涯的医生。这些平台为初级IMGs提供信息、资源、支持并解答他们提出的问题。受这些项目以及一个改变了当地IMG教育项目的澳大利亚项目的启发，我们研究了利用数字平台并将基于证据的当地项目转变为全国性项目是否是支持IMGs的最佳途径。
