Undergraduate medical student education: the case for a national curriculum

Thirty-eight teaching hospital affiliated accident and emergency departments were surveyed by post to try to find if there had been any change in undergraduate medical student teaching over the past 10 years. Twenty-six departments replied. The results showed that although there has been an improvement in the teaching of A&E medicine to undergraduates in the past few years there are still some medical schools where an A&E attachment is not mandatory. In those departments providing teaching, there is wide variation in course duration and content.