How much longer long will it take in the academic route to senior lecturer compared to pure clinical training to consultant level in the new system?
This is an important advantage of the new system, because clinical progression will be assessed by competencies rather than years in practice. The current mimimum time recommended by the RCPCH to gain clinical competencies is five years but many clinicians are expected to take nearer eight years anyway. Hence, although there will always be the extra two to three years required for an MD or PhD, the gap between clinical and academic training lengths could be shortened considerably if they are clinically competent.
