Cookies on this website
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Continue' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Medical schools' gap between research and clinical practice criticised

General Research

Medical research is falling behind the burden of disease because medical education is not effectively bridging the gap between research and clinical practice. That's the stark appraisal of three Oxford-based researchers, including Oxford University’s head of medical sciences.

In an article for journal Science Translational Medicine, Dr Alastair Buchan and colleagues Gabriele DeLuca and Pavel Ovseiko call for a new approach to training what are called clinician-scientists, doctors educated both as medical practitioners and researchers.

They say that the current approach to medical training means that the development of clinical skills and knowledge is increasingly separated from education in research skills and knowledge. Training in the two areas is not only separated by teaching timetables that see the two areas as firmly discrete and disconnected but by the increasing move of research from hospitals to specialist centres.

Read more

Similar stories

UK and EU regulators conclude benefits of vaccination continue to outweigh the risks

Coronavirus COVID-19 General

Today, the medical regulators in the UK and Europe have announced their conclusions from their reviews of very rare cases of unusual blood clots in people who have received the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine.

Link between COVID-19 infection and subsequent mental health and neurological conditions found

Coronavirus COVID-19 General Research

One in three COVID-19 survivors received a neurological or psychiatric diagnosis within six months of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, an observational study of more than 230,000 patient health records published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal estimates. The study looked at 14 neurological and mental health disorders.

Cognitive behavioural therapy: we discovered a data gap on its effectiveness for different ethnic groups

General Research

New national study of long-term impacts of debilitating lung damage from COVID-19

Coronavirus COVID-19 General Research

A new national study will investigate the long-term effects of lung inflammation and scarring from COVID-19. The study, launched with £2 million of funding from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), aims to develop treatment strategies and prevent disability.

Opportunities for final goodbyes must be prioritised in COVID-19 pandemic

Coronavirus COVID-19 General Research

Bereaved relatives described the ongoing pain of being absent at the end of a loved-one's life. Many had not seen their relative for weeks or months due to the pandemic. Opportunities must be prioritised for essential connections between families at end-of-life care.

New study shows overwhelming public support for donating vaccines to low-income countries

Coronavirus COVID-19 General Research

A survey led by Nuffield Department of Population Health's Health Economics Research Centre has found that most people in high-income countries support donating some of their country’s COVID-19 vaccine supplies to low-income nations who would otherwise struggle to gain access.