The MSC (medical students committee) represents medical students in the UK. We consider and address issues of importance to medical students and make sure your views are represented in wider BMA policy.
Updates from the MSC
Changes to UKFPO Applications for Specialised Foundation Programme (SFP)
Medical students were clear that recruitment to the Specialised Foundation Programme (SFP) should consider students’ aptitude and enthusiasm for research, education or leadership. We were was therefore disappointed that, in February 2024, it was announced these posts would be randomly allocated under Preference Informed Allocation (PIA). With the medical academic staff committee, we set out our concerns in a statement and raised these issues with UKFPO, NHS England and the Medical Schools Council.
As a result, NHS England and the Medical Students Council launched a new partnership to give students the opportunity to apply directly to medical schools for certain SFP posts in England. This arrangement means that one third of these posts will be managed directly by medical schools with support from the Medical Schools Council in England for 2025. The remaining two thirds of SFP posts will be managed by NHS England through the preference informed allocation process (PIA).
While we welcome this compromise, we remain committed to advocating for a system in which all recruitment to the programme is done on the basis of aptitude for an academic career, as well as the availability of appropriate opportunities and supervision in the applicant’s chosen location.
Reconsidering the allocation process to UK foundation training
- BMA view on the UKFPO’s stakeholder engagement exercise on proposed changes to the UK Foundation Programme allocation process.
- Watch the recording of our latest webinar with UKFPO and Prof. Sam that explores the pros and cons of the current allocation method and what an alternative to ranking could look like.
MSC wellbeing checklist
The medical student wellbeing work aims to contribute towards the standardisation of medical student support services throughout the region.
The MSC has created this welfare checklist on medical school welfare systems and policies to make the medical student experience a better one.
Our priorities
MSC policy is set by the annual medical students conference and the BMA's ARM (annual representative meeting). As future doctors, we want to safeguard our NHS. As such, our four main priorities are:
Finance
- Lobby for the protection of the NHS bursary for AHP and medical students.
- Lobby for sufficient and equitable travel expenses for medical students on placement.
- Lobby against increase of fees for international medical students.
Welfare
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Addressing racial harassment and other harmful behaviours at medical schools
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Improve awareness of student mental health issues.
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Lobby for improvements to support systems.
Education
- UKFPO applications for the Specialised Foundation Programme
- MDDAs and 4-year degrees
- UKMLA implementation
- Curricular policy review and professionalism
Widening participation
- Support students from a widening participation background, including mature students.
- Engage the wider BMA and relevant stakeholders in widening participation, making recommendations and/or developing resources.
Our people
Each UK medical school elects a representative to the MSC for one year. To find out who the MSC representative for your medical school is, please contact the MSC secretariat at [email protected] or download the full list below.
The MSC also has an executive subcommittee, which is entitled to take decisions in between meetings of the MSC.
Chair: Rob Tucker
Deputy chair of MSC (education) - Elgan Manton-Roseblade and Callum Williams
Deputy chair of MSC (welfare) - Ria Bansal and Akshata Valsangkar
Deputy chair of MSC (finance) - Henry Budden and Sophie Mitchell
Deputy chair of MSC (widening participation) - Ohemaa Asare and Imogen Jane Shaw
Chair of medical students conference 2025 - Noor Al-Saffar
MSC executive member and international lead - Ehsas Kakkar
MSC executive member and local engagement lead – Bethan Stanley
MSC executive and communications lead - Jennifer Edwards
Student members elected to BMA council (non-voting) - Gurleen Sahota, Eli Sassoon and Adam Skeen
Previous co-chair of MSC (non-voting) - Shivani Ganesh and Chinelo Nnadi
Member appointed by the RDC (non-voting) – Erin Amy Gourley
Devolved nation chairs:
Chair of Northern Ireland MSC (non-voting) - Orla Mullan
Chair of Scotland MSC (non-voting) - Aaron Fernandez
Chair of Wales MSC (non-voting) - Fatemeh Tajdin
Take part in one of our free courses designed to give you the right skills to:
- break down equality and inclusion bias (CPD-accredited)
- value difference and inclusivity
- live our BMA behaviour principles.
Associated committees
Our meetings
The committee meets four times a year to discuss the latest issues affecting medical students. Our meetings are open to all elected medical student representatives for each medical school across the UK, but non-members can apply to attend via the committee visitors scheme.
Committee meetings:
- Wednesday 21 August 2024 (Training day, BMA House)
- Thursday 22 August 2024 (Hybrid meeting at BMA House)
- Friday 29 November 2024 (Microsoft Teams)
- Friday 28 February 2025 (Hybrid meeting at BMA House)
- Friday 13 June 2025 (Microsoft Teams)
For more information, please email [email protected]
Conference
The MSC annual conference is an opportunity to discuss the current issues affecting medical students and to pass motions based on these debates.
BMA members from all medical schools across the UK are invited to attend, with each medical school allocated a certain number of conference places.
Any policy passed at the conference directs the MSC’s work for the coming year.
2025
The 2025 conference will take place on Friday 4 and Saturday 5 April 2025.
How to join
There are many advantages to becoming involved in our committees. You can actively influence BMA policy-making and negotiations, represent your colleagues' voices and develop your leadership skills.
Each committee has a few routes to becoming an elected member. In the case of the Medical students committee, this is:
- Seats/term - every year, all medical schools elect a representative and a deputy representative for a one-session term. For split campuses (Nottingham/Derby and York/Hull), an additional deputy representative is elected. An extra deputy representative is elected from Manchester, Keele, Exeter and Cardiff medical schools.
- Timeline - elections usually take place in March or April.
- Eligibility - all student BMA members are eligible to stand and vote in this election.
The election section below is kept up to date with details about any running elections, so make sure you keep checking it throughout the year.
Elections
Elections for the 2024-25 session are currently closed.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or would like to find out more about the work of the MSC, please email [email protected].
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