Follow the money: how is medical school teaching funded?

Abstract

Growing student numbers are producing greater demand for teaching, and resources allocated for education are being placed under increasing strain. The need for more student clinical placements and more clinician teaching time is expanding. Psychiatrists have successfully drawn attention to the importance of parity between mental and physical illness. We now have a responsibility to ensure enhanced opportunities to teach psychiatry to our medical students. This is set against a background of an increasing number of psychiatry consultants leaving the profession and an already stretched National Health Service environment. Many consultants contribute to teaching but do not have this activity included in their job plans. Although clinics and clinical meetings are inevitably slower when students are present, there is often no backfill provided. As outlined below, trusts receive substantial funding to cover costs related to the teaching of medical students, but most of us don't know what actually happens to this money. Here, we discuss how teaching is currently funded and make recommendations regarding improving accountability.