The newly elected leader of the UK's 33,000 medical students has called on the government to ensure that problems which have beset the job application system for UK medical graduates are not repeated.

Emily Rigby was elected chair of the BMA's Medical Students Committee yesterday (Tuesday 19 September, 2006).

Commenting on the key issues facing medical students, she said that the new system for job applications was still a concern. Earlier this year thousands of medical students applying for their first jobs were left not knowing whether they had been successful because of technical glitches. A new system - known as the Medical Training Application Service - is due to go live in October.

Ms Rigby said: "The Medical Students Committee has lobbied hard to ensure that vital improvements have been made to the application system - including better technical resources, more information for students and a greater emphasis on student input. It is now down to the Department of Health to ensure the process works well. The vital first step in a doctors' career depends on this system and the debacle of last year must not be repeated."

Emily Rigby is a student at the University of Bristol Medical School. She will be supported by three new deputy chairs:

* David Samuel, University of Wales, Cardiff - chair of the MSC Welfare subcommittee
* Matthew Mak, Imperial College, London - chair of the MSC Education subcommittee
* Manil Malawana, Guys, Kings and St Thomas' - chair of the MSC Finance subcommittee



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British Medical Association
Source:
BMA News, the membership magazine of the British Medical Association