§ Ms Rosie WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average cost of the education and training of a qualified orthopaedic surgeon is. [147268]
§ Mr. DenhamThe information requested is not collected centrally in the form requested.
In order to qualify as an orthopaedic surgeon, a doctor would have to complete a medical degree, one year of general clinical training, a minimum of two years as a senior house officer and six years as a specialist registrar.
The costs to the National Health Service and Higher Education Funding Council in England of a five year undergraduate medical course plus a year of general clinical training are in the region of £160,000 to £200,000. The health service makes a significant investment in postgraduate medical education. Doctors in postgraduate training follow an apprenticeship model where their training is inextricably bound up with the service they provide. Even within specialties the length and type of training will vary according to the particular career path an individual chooses and their rate of progress. For these reasons it is not possible to put a meaningful figure to the cost of training individuals to completion of specialist training.