“Less than half of all doctors training in the UK now move directly from foundation training to specialty training, with most now taking a break from training at this stage, figures from the UK Foundation Programme Office (UKFPO) show.
The proportion of doctors going directly from foundation training into specialty training has fallen steadily since 2009, when UKFPO first reported these figures. In 2009, 85% of those completing the foundation programme went straight into specialty training, but by 2012 this had fallen to two thirds (67%). In 2017, 43% of doctors completing the foundation programme went straight into specialty training.”
The fact that the avenue for direct training is closed in Malaysia (unless if you enter SLAB/SLAI) is baffling to me. I'm still a little bit bitter that my Masters application years ago was rejected as my service period was almost a month too short for consideration. I'm all for being careful of producing specialists with little experience (gaining experience should be a key tenet of the training program anyway), but the current training pathway seems too long taking into account the lull between housemanship and specialty training (especially if you're unlucky to get to an unwanted department after you finish housemanship). While at the same time there's real pressure in scoring in the exams as the "scholarship" only lasts for the duration of training if you do not fail a single paper (which is ridiculous as well). We're human and not supermen/superwomen.