Abstract
We need to build on the success of the Medical Training Initiative (MTI) programme and expand the scheme. I strongly support a significant increase in the cap for tier 5 visas, as suggested by Mir et al. 1 Since 2010, we have had 10 doctors, from Kuwait, Lebanon and Oman, in our department on the MTI programme and many more in our Trust hospitals. Those who have completed their training have become successful specialists in their own countries and some have also made significant regional contribution in their specialty. They are excellent ambassadors and advocates of the MTI, British medicine and the National Health Service (NHS) as a comprehensive health system, which is free at the point of delivery. The MTI doctors have also enriched the NHS by their new ideas to improve healthcare in addition to their contribution in the management of patients.
Since 2006, when the Permit Free Visa was withdrawn for international medical graduates (IMGs), doctors from the Middle East, North Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and other countries in South East Asia headed to the USA and Canada for postgraduate medical training instead of the UK. Our colleagues in the Gulf refer to this shift in training from the UK to Canada, in particular, as the ‘Canadian Syndrome’.
The number of visas issued needs to be increased significantly and the processing of applications needs to be faster. There is also argument for increasing the duration of the visa to 4 years especially for those with a chosen specialty. Specialist societies need to be involved in the process. The UK needs to re-establish its role as a training hub for IMGs.