BMA leaders have called on the DoH to ensure that medical graduates are not left unemployed.
The UK Foundation Programme Office (UKFPO) has announced that there were 184 more applications from medical students than places available on the foundation programme from August 2011.
However, the UKFPO believes most graduates who currently do not have a place will find one, because a proportion of those awarded places drop out each year.Foundation programme posts are the first jobs that newly qualified junior doctors undertake after graduation and must be undertaken before they gain full registration as doctors in the UK.
Responding to the announcement, Karin Purshouse, chairwoman of the BMA medical students committee said: 'It is unacceptable for any UK medical graduate to be in a position where they might not be able to start a job as a junior doctor after medical school.
'The taxpayer invests £266,000 in training each student during the course of their five- to six-year medical degree'.
Watch an online interview with Karin Purshouse.
