§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she will consider the best method by which bioengineers should receive medical training; if she will consider giving support to medical doctors to obtain M.Sc. degrees in engineering either by full-time or part-time training; and if she will make a statement.
§ Dr. OwenM.Sc. courses in bioengineering are available for both doctors and engineers, and the MRC annually awards a number of fellowships for these. In addition, some medical school places are normally filled by existing graduates. I fully accept the value of combining medical, engineering and, indeed, many other skills in the promotion of medical advance, but training engineers in medicine or vice versa is not the only way. Team work between individuals trained in the separate disciplines is often very effective.