Value of a UK medical degree for international students (VISION): a cross-sectional study
Objectives It is estimated that NHS staff consist of over 200 different nationalities, with a reported 30.7% of doctors holding a nationality other than British. Despite this, international medical students represent 7.5% of all medical students studying in the UK and pay on average, 4–6 times more...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMJ Publishing Group
2023-07-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/7/e065062.full |
| _version_ | 1797767505701240832 |
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| author | Sashiananthan Ganesananthan Timothy Woo Helen Sweetland Setthasorn Zhi Yang Ooi Elizabeth Wong Kar Yen Phoong Viraj Shah Amanda Godoi Eu Fang Foo Chun Hei Li Rohan Gupta Vanessa Yeo Katie Cheung Trevor Pinchemain Shan Ming Lim Ravanth Baskaran Srinjay Mukhopadhyay Sai Ram Pillarisetti Paarth Kishan Gupta Renee Punia Diva Jhaveri Aaron Gnanabalan Italia-Rosa Leech Faith Lee Memory Moyo Isha Thakar Tushar Rakhecha Movin Peramuna Gamage Nishaanth Dalavye Allen Mathew Parvathy Sureshkumarnair Sripradha Srinivasan Becky Leveridge |
| author_facet | Sashiananthan Ganesananthan Timothy Woo Helen Sweetland Setthasorn Zhi Yang Ooi Elizabeth Wong Kar Yen Phoong Viraj Shah Amanda Godoi Eu Fang Foo Chun Hei Li Rohan Gupta Vanessa Yeo Katie Cheung Trevor Pinchemain Shan Ming Lim Ravanth Baskaran Srinjay Mukhopadhyay Sai Ram Pillarisetti Paarth Kishan Gupta Renee Punia Diva Jhaveri Aaron Gnanabalan Italia-Rosa Leech Faith Lee Memory Moyo Isha Thakar Tushar Rakhecha Movin Peramuna Gamage Nishaanth Dalavye Allen Mathew Parvathy Sureshkumarnair Sripradha Srinivasan Becky Leveridge |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives It is estimated that NHS staff consist of over 200 different nationalities, with a reported 30.7% of doctors holding a nationality other than British. Despite this, international medical students represent 7.5% of all medical students studying in the UK and pay on average, 4–6 times more in tuition fees when compared with the £9250 per annum (Great British Pounds (£) in 2021) paid by home students. This study’s aim and objective are to evaluate the perception of the financial cost and value of the UK medical degree for international students and their motivations for pursuing such a degree.Methods This is a cross-sectional observational study enquiring about international premedical, medical and medical school graduates’ perception of the value of the UK medical degree and factors influencing their decision to study in the UK.A questionnaire was developed and distributed to 24 medical schools and 64 secondary schools both internationally and across the UK.Results A total of 352 responses from 56 nationalities were recorded. 96% of international students identified clinical and academic opportunities as the most important factors to study medicine in the UK, closely followed by quality of life (88%). The least important factor was family reasons, with 39% of individuals identifying this factor. Only 4.82% of graduates in our study considered leaving the UK after training. Overall, 54% of students felt the UK degree was value for money. This belief was significantly higher in premedical students compared with existing students and graduates (71% vs 52% and 20%, p<0.001 for all comparisons).Conclusion The quality of medical education and international prestige are attractive factors for international students to study medicine in the UK. However, further work is needed to ascertain reasons for the differing perceptions of the value by international students at different stages in their clinical training. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T20:40:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-09ea0926b380474aa6db0006aec9210c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T20:40:46Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-09ea0926b380474aa6db0006aec9210c2023-08-01T09:20:07ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552023-07-0113710.1136/bmjopen-2022-065062Value of a UK medical degree for international students (VISION): a cross-sectional study 0Sashiananthan Ganesananthan1Timothy Woo2Helen Sweetland3Setthasorn Zhi Yang Ooi4Elizabeth WongKar Yen PhoongViraj ShahAmanda Godoi5Eu Fang Foo6Chun Hei Li7Rohan GuptaVanessa Yeo8Katie CheungTrevor Pinchemain9Shan Ming Lim10Ravanth Baskaran11Srinjay Mukhopadhyay12Sai Ram Pillarisetti13Paarth Kishan GuptaRenee PuniaDiva JhaveriAaron GnanabalanItalia-Rosa LeechFaith LeeMemory MoyoIsha ThakarTushar RakhechaMovin Peramuna GamageNishaanth DalavyeAllen MathewParvathy SureshkumarnairSripradha SrinivasanBecky Leveridge2Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, UKSchool of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UKSchool of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UKSchool of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UKSchool of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UKSchool of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UKSchool of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UKVascular Surgery, St George`s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UKOphthalmology, Sandwell and West Birmingham Trust, Birmingham, UKSchool of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UKSchool of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UKSchool of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UKSchool of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UKMedical studentObjectives It is estimated that NHS staff consist of over 200 different nationalities, with a reported 30.7% of doctors holding a nationality other than British. Despite this, international medical students represent 7.5% of all medical students studying in the UK and pay on average, 4–6 times more in tuition fees when compared with the £9250 per annum (Great British Pounds (£) in 2021) paid by home students. This study’s aim and objective are to evaluate the perception of the financial cost and value of the UK medical degree for international students and their motivations for pursuing such a degree.Methods This is a cross-sectional observational study enquiring about international premedical, medical and medical school graduates’ perception of the value of the UK medical degree and factors influencing their decision to study in the UK.A questionnaire was developed and distributed to 24 medical schools and 64 secondary schools both internationally and across the UK.Results A total of 352 responses from 56 nationalities were recorded. 96% of international students identified clinical and academic opportunities as the most important factors to study medicine in the UK, closely followed by quality of life (88%). The least important factor was family reasons, with 39% of individuals identifying this factor. Only 4.82% of graduates in our study considered leaving the UK after training. Overall, 54% of students felt the UK degree was value for money. This belief was significantly higher in premedical students compared with existing students and graduates (71% vs 52% and 20%, p<0.001 for all comparisons).Conclusion The quality of medical education and international prestige are attractive factors for international students to study medicine in the UK. However, further work is needed to ascertain reasons for the differing perceptions of the value by international students at different stages in their clinical training.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/7/e065062.full |
| spellingShingle | Sashiananthan Ganesananthan Timothy Woo Helen Sweetland Setthasorn Zhi Yang Ooi Elizabeth Wong Kar Yen Phoong Viraj Shah Amanda Godoi Eu Fang Foo Chun Hei Li Rohan Gupta Vanessa Yeo Katie Cheung Trevor Pinchemain Shan Ming Lim Ravanth Baskaran Srinjay Mukhopadhyay Sai Ram Pillarisetti Paarth Kishan Gupta Renee Punia Diva Jhaveri Aaron Gnanabalan Italia-Rosa Leech Faith Lee Memory Moyo Isha Thakar Tushar Rakhecha Movin Peramuna Gamage Nishaanth Dalavye Allen Mathew Parvathy Sureshkumarnair Sripradha Srinivasan Becky Leveridge Value of a UK medical degree for international students (VISION): a cross-sectional study BMJ Open |
| title | Value of a UK medical degree for international students (VISION): a cross-sectional study |
| title_full | Value of a UK medical degree for international students (VISION): a cross-sectional study |
| title_fullStr | Value of a UK medical degree for international students (VISION): a cross-sectional study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Value of a UK medical degree for international students (VISION): a cross-sectional study |
| title_short | Value of a UK medical degree for international students (VISION): a cross-sectional study |
| title_sort | value of a uk medical degree for international students vision a cross sectional study |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/7/e065062.full |
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