Background: Medical schools differ, particularly in their teaching, but it is unclear whether such differences matter, although influential claims are often made. The Medical School Differences (MedDifs) study brings together a wide range of measures of UK medical schools, including postgraduate performance, fitness to practise issues, specialty choice, preparedness, satisfaction, teaching styles, entry criteria and institutional factors.Method: Aggregated data were collected for 50 measures across 29 UK medical schools. Data includeinstitutional history(e.g. rate of production of hospital and GP specialists in the past),curricular influences(e.g. PBL schools, spend per student, staff-student ratio), selection measures(e.g. entry grades),teaching and assessment(e.g. traditional vs PBL, specialty teaching, self-regulated learning), student satisfaction, Foundation selection scores,Foundation satisfaction,postgraduate examination performance andfitness to practise(postgraduate progression, GMC sanctions). Six specialties (General Practice, Psychiatry, Anaesthetics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Internal Medicine, Surgery) were examined in more detail.Results: Medical school differences are stable across time (median alpha = 0.835). The 50 measures were highly correlated, 395 (32.2%) of 1225 correlations being significant withp < 0.05, and 201 (16.4%) reached a Tukey-adjusted criterion ofp < 0.0025.Problem-based learning (PBL) schools differ on many measures, including lower performance on postgraduate assessments. While these are in part explained by lower entry grades, a surprising finding is that schools such as PBL schools which reportedgreaterstudent satisfaction with feedback also showedlowerperformance at postgraduate examinations.More medical school teaching of psychiatry, surgery and anaesthetics did not result in more specialist trainees. Schools that taught more general practice did have more graduates entering GP training, but those graduates performed less well in MRCGP examinations, the negative correlation resulting from numbers of GP trainees and exam outcomes being affected both by non-traditional teaching and by greater historical production of GPs.Postgraduate exam outcomes were also higher in schools with more self-regulated learning, but lower in larger medical schools.A path model for 29 measures found a complex causal nexus, most measures causing or being caused by other measures. Postgraduate exam performance was influenced by earlier attainment, at entry to Foundation and entry to medical school (the so-called academic backbone), and by self-regulated learning.Foundation measures of satisfaction, including preparedness, had no subsequent influence on outcomes. Fitness to practise issues were more frequent in schools producing more male graduates and more GPs.Conclusions: Medical schools differ in large numbers of ways that are causally interconnected. Differences between schools in postgraduate examination performance, training problems and GMC sanctions have important implications for the quality of patient care and patient safety.

Background: What subjects UK medical schools teach, what ways they teach subjects, and how much they teach those subjects is unclear. Whether teaching differences matter is a separate, important question. This study provides a detailed picture of timetabled undergraduate teaching activity at 25 UK medical schools, particularly in relation to problem-based learning (PBL). Method: The Analysis of Teaching of Medical Schools (AToMS) survey used detailed timetables provided by 25 schools with standard 5-year courses. Timetabled teaching events were coded in terms of course year, duration, teaching format, and teaching content. Ten schools used PBL. Teaching times from timetables were validated against two other studies that had assessed GP teaching and lecture, seminar, and tutorial times. Results: A total of 47,258 timetabled teaching events in the academic year 2014/2015 were analysed, including SSCs (student-selected components) and elective studies. A typical UK medical student receives 3960 timetabled hours of teaching during their 5-year course. There was a clear difference between the initial 2 years which mostly contained basic medical science content and the later 3 years which mostly consisted of clinical teaching, although some clinical teaching occurs in the first 2 years. Medical schools differed in duration, format, and content of teaching. Two main factors underlay most of the variation between schools, Traditional vs PBL teaching and Structured vs Unstructured teaching. A curriculum map comparing medical schools was constructed using those factors. PBL schools differed on a number of measures, having more PBL teaching time, fewer lectures, more GP teaching, less surgery, less formal teaching of basic science, and more sessions with unspecified content. Discussion: UK medical schools differ in both format and content of teaching. PBL and non-PBL schools clearly differ, albeit with substantial variation within groups, and overlap in the middle. The important question of whether differences in teaching matter in terms of outcomes is analysed in a companion study (MedDifs) which examines how teaching differences relate to university infrastructure, entry requirements, student perceptions, and outcomes in Foundation Programme and postgraduate training.

To determine the oncological outcomes following fertility-sparing surgery (FSS) for the management of Borderline Ovarian Tumours (BOTs). A retrospective analysis of participants diagnosed with BOTs between January 2004 and December 2020 at the West London Gynaecological Oncology Centre was conducted. A total of 172 women were diagnosed; 52.3% (90/172) underwent FSS and 47.7% (82/172) non-FSS. The overall recurrence rate of disease was 16.9% (29/172), of which 79.3% (23/29) presented as the recurrence of serous or sero-mucinous BOTs and 20.7% (6/29) as low-grade serous carcinoma (LGSC). In the FSS group, the recurrence rate of BOTs was 25.6% (23/90) presenting a median 44.0 (interquartile range (IQR) 41.5) months, of which there were no episodes of recurrence presenting as LGSC reported. In the non-FSS group, all recurrences of disease presented as LGSC, with a rate of 7.7% (6/78), following a median of 47.5 months (IQR 47.8). A significant difference between the type of surgery performed (FSS v Non-FSS) and the association with recurrence of BOT was observed (Pearson Chi-Square: p = 0.000; x = 20.613). Twelve women underwent ultrasound-guided ovarian wedge resection (UGOWR) as a novel method of FSS. Recurrence of BOT was not significantly associated with the type of FSS performed (Pearson Chi- Square: x = 3.166, p = 0.379). Non-FSS is associated with negative oncological outcomes compared to FSS, as evidenced by the higher rate of recurrence of LGSC. This may be attributed to the indefinite long-term follow up with ultrasound surveillance all FSS women undergo, enabling earlier detection and treatment of recurrences.

To explore the views, attitudes, and experiences of South Asian women in the UK regarding sexual health services.We performed virtual semi-structured interviews with South Asian women 18 and over l...

(1) Background: This study aims to establish the knowledge, attitudes and current behaviours towards female fertility preservation (FP) services amongst healthcare professionals (HCPs) in the UK. (2) Methods: An online survey was advertised publicly on the social media platform Instagram between 25 February 2021 and 11 March 2021. (3) Results: In total, 415 participants fulfilled the inclusion criteria and completed the survey. The majority of HCPs discussed FP techniques either never 39.5% (n = 164), once a year 20.7% (n = 86) or once a month 17.8% (n = 74). The majority rated their knowledge of each type of FP method as ‘very poor’ or ‘poor’ and strongly disagreed 14.2% (n = 59) or disagreed 42.2% (n = 175) with the statement they ‘felt confident to counsel a patient on FP’. The majority either agreed 37.8% (n = 157) or strongly agreed 22.2% (n = 92) that it was their responsibility to discuss FP and 38.1% (n = 158) agreed or strongly agreed 19.5% (n = 81) they considered the desire for future fertility when planning treatment. The majority 87.2% (n = 362) had not experienced formal training on FP. (4) Conclusions: Discrepancies in knowledge remain regarding techniques of FP, referral pathways, awareness of facilities offering services and existing educational resources. Many HCPs recognise the importance of FP and their responsibility to initiate discussions. The knowledge that FP may not delay the treatment of cancer has also improved; however, training in FP is scarce.

Aims: Ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) determined by categorisation of component Life's Simple 7 (LS7) metrics has been associated with reduced risk of heart failure (HF). However, few studies have explored the relationship between changes in CVH from middle to older age and HF incidence. We aim to investigate the association between LS7 metrics and their impact on HF incidence in older men. Additionally, we explore whether changes in CVH scores between middle and older age were associated with subsequent HF risk. Methods and results: The British Regional Heart Study is a prospective study of 7735 men, aged 40–59 years at enrolment (1978–80) from 24 British towns. Information on LS7 metrics was gathered at initial recruitment and again at re-examination 20 years later. Follow-up for HF was conducted from re-examination onwards. Among 3698 men (60–79 years) without prior myocardial infarction or HF, 369 developed HF during a median follow-up of 15.8 years. Ideal CVH was associated with significantly lower risk of HF relative to poor CVH after adjusting for age, social class and alcohol intake (HR 95% CI = 0.51 0.38–0.68). Men who maintained high CVH scores between baseline and 20 years re-examination (high-high group) showed a significant 33% reduction in risk of HF (HR 95% CI = 0.67 0.51–0.87) compared to those with consistently low CVH scores. These associations persisted after adjustment for competing mortality. Conclusion: Our results highlight that a consistently healthy lifestyle, as reflected in a better CVH score maintained over an adult lifetime, is associated with lower HF risk in older men. Lay summary: This study finds that maintaining good cardiovascular health is associated with reduced risk of heart failure in older men.Over a 20-year period, men who kept their cardiovascular health scores high had a 33% lower chance of developing heart failure compared to those with consistently low scores.These findings highlight that to reduce the chances of heart failure in older age it is important to maintain healthy levels of key lifestyle factors right from middle age.