£160,000 of additional funding for medical students in Northern Ireland has been announced as part of a UK-wide initiative to support final year medical students preparing for transition into the Health and Social Care workforce.
Support will be in the form of extra ‘role shadowing’ time, in response to the impacts of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which has decreased the patient contact time and teaching interactions for medical students.
Health Minister Robin Swann said: “I am very happy to be able to provide an extra five days of role-shadowing support to our highly valued medical students, who have faced immense pressure to complete their studies during these unprecedented times.
“The Health Ministers across the UK are united in providing this support, further enabling our medical students to assimilate into the workforce as quickly as possible.
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"This funding recognises the extra burden imposed by Covid-19 and strengthens my commitment to provide the very best opportunities for all our present and future Health and Social Care staff.”
Dr Ian Steele, Director of Education and Postgraduate Medical Dean of the Northern Ireland Medical and Dental Training Agency (NIMDTA) stated: “I am pleased that Northern Ireland is participating in a UK wide initiative to provide extra support to the newly qualified doctors, made possible by additional funding from the Department of Health.
“This funding will give our 252 new doctors an opportunity to start shadowing their more senior colleagues a week earlier than usual from 21 July, and spending time in the clinical environment will help them to become more familiar and comfortable with their new role.”
