Medical Doctor Degree Apprenticeship

The Medical Doctor Degree Apprenticeship offers NHS organisations the opportunity to grow their future medical workforce and attract and recruit from a wider pool of people in the local community.  It also gives individuals, who for a multitude of reasons may be unable to attend university full time, a new route to train as a doctor.

A Medical Doctor Degree Apprentice will be employed as an apprentice by a healthcare provider organisation.  Apprentices study flexibly alongside work, so they can put newly acquired knowledge and skills into practice immediately, for the positive benefit of service users and patients. Medical Doctor Degree Apprentices will do the same training, at the same high standard as those taking traditional educational routes. Any medical school offering the Medical Doctor Degree Apprenticeship will be approved by the General Medical Council.  Apprentices are employed and paid a salary by the organisation they work for enabling them to earn and learn. The healthcare provider organisation will meet some of the cost of the apprentice’s tuition with apprentice levy funds available to pay for some of the apprenticeship training costs too. 

The Medical Doctor Degree Apprenticeship is available to people with the required entry qualifications to become a medical doctor, including those currently working in other healthcare roles. Apprenticeships are jobs which are advertised by local employers on the basis of local workforce needs.  After graduation Medical Doctor Degree Apprentices will be able to apply for a Foundation Programme to continue their path towards becoming a more experienced doctor in any field of medicine they wish.

The ability to employ trainee doctors in this way takes away some of the financial burden from the individual, creating a means for those who are unable to meet the cost of traditional medical training. This approach will also give healthcare provider organisations the space to employ those from currently underrepresented groups, helping them to create a workforce which mirrors more closely the population they serve, and fill posts in currently under doctored areas.

In order to put this apprenticeship in place employers and medical schools have been supported by Health Education England over the last year to develop the apprenticeship and agree upon its standards. The Medical Doctor Degree Apprenticeship has been approved for delivery by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education.

The Medical Doctor Apprentice standard is available here: Medical Doctor Degree Apprenticeship Standard 

Further information along with a toolkit and FAQ to assist NHS organisations in the implementing the Medical Doctor Apprentice is available here: Further information and toolkit

To read a new blog from Professor Liz Hughes, Medical Director for undergraduate education at HEE all about the new Medical Doctor Degree Apprenticeship, visit: Blog