Foundation allocation for underserved areas

We read Cook et al. [1] with great interest and would like to offer our perspective as educators and clinicians involved in the undergraduate education and postgraduate training of doctors.<br/><br/>Cook et al. focus on the psychological and professional impact of the new UK Foundation Programme preference-informed allocation (PIA) system on final year, and recently graduated medical students [1]. The student view is clearly paramount, as these are the individuals whose futures are being assigned. However, there are other key stakeholders who are also strongly impacted by this system, namely the existing clinical and educational workforce and the patients that they care for. We believe our insights add weight to Cook et al.’s [1] argument whilst also conveying the implications for specific workforce goals such as rural recruitment and retention. We also make suggestions on how to navigate these issues in the future.<br/><br/>The National Health Service (NHS) has well documented struggles with recruiting doctors to underserved areas across the UK, including deprived and rural regions. Brewster et al. make a compelling argument about the structural issues within UK medical training which limit the provision of care and exacerbate health inequalities [2].<br/><br/>