Development and innovation in a new distributed medical programme: Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM)

Fiona Graham; Jonathan Dowell; Angela Flynn; Shalini Gupta; Andrew MacFarlane; Andrew O'Malley; Robert Scully; Francis Michael Sullivan; Lloyd Samuel John Thompson; Kirsty Alexander

doi:10.3389/fmed.2025.1586851

Development and innovation in a new distributed medical programme: Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM)

Fiona Graham^*, Jonathan Dowell, Angela Flynn, Shalini Gupta, Andrew MacFarlane, Andrew O'Malley, Robert Scully, Francis Michael Sullivan, Lloyd Samuel John Thompson, Kirsty Alexander

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Introduction: Addressing the shortage of primary-care physicians, especially in remote and rural areas, is a crucial target in many countries. This article introduces the Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM) programme: a compressed, tailor-made curriculum designed to equip and enthuse its graduates to practice generalist and rural medicine in Scotland, within the ethos of socially accountable medicine.

Methods: This curriculum paper describes ScotGEM in sufficient detail for the reader to translate elements to their own context. It then collates findings from evaluations, research projects and many critical discussions about the programme. This work is used to describe and evaluate the curriculum design and delivery, with a focus on the distributed aspects.

Results: Three key innovations of the curriculum are explored in detail: the Generalist Clinical Mentor (GCM) role; the year-long primary care Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC); and the Agents of Change curriculum. There are early signs that ScotGEM is encouraging generalist, rural careers within Scotland. There is also growing evidence of the benefits ScotGEM faculty and students bring to the clinical workforce in the distributed settings.

Discussion: Distributed programmes require additional organization for students and faculty. Partnerships can be challenging but immensely rewarding. Healthcare partners in rural areas need to be involved early in planning and strong relationships fostered with local “champions.”

Original language	English
Article number	1586851
Pages (from-to)	1-12
Number of pages	12
Journal	Frontiers in Medicine
Volume	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2025.1586851
Publication status	Published - 14 Jul 2025

Keywords

Distributed training
Undergraduate medical education
Rural and remote areas
Scotland
Family medicine and general practice
Social accountability

Access to Document

10.3389/fmed.2025.1586851Licence: CC BY

Graham-et-al-2025-Development-and-innovation-FMED-1586851-CCBY
Copyright © 2025 Graham, Dowell, Flynn, Gupta, MacFarlane, O’Malley, Scully, Sullivan, Thompson and Alexander. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Final published version, 750 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{453013a274424000a3e675d9df02962e,

title = "Development and innovation in a new distributed medical programme: Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM)",

abstract = "Introduction: Addressing the shortage of primary-care physicians, especially in remote and rural areas, is a crucial target in many countries. This article introduces the Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM) programme: a compressed, tailor-made curriculum designed to equip and enthuse its graduates to practice generalist and rural medicine in Scotland, within the ethos of socially accountable medicine.Methods: This curriculum paper describes ScotGEM in sufficient detail for the reader to translate elements to their own context. It then collates findings from evaluations, research projects and many critical discussions about the programme. This work is used to describe and evaluate the curriculum design and delivery, with a focus on the distributed aspects.Results: Three key innovations of the curriculum are explored in detail: the Generalist Clinical Mentor (GCM) role; the year-long primary care Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC); and the Agents of Change curriculum. There are early signs that ScotGEM is encouraging generalist, rural careers within Scotland. There is also growing evidence of the benefits ScotGEM faculty and students bring to the clinical workforce in the distributed settings.Discussion: Distributed programmes require additional organization for students and faculty. Partnerships can be challenging but immensely rewarding. Healthcare partners in rural areas need to be involved early in planning and strong relationships fostered with local “champions.”",

keywords = "Distributed training, Undergraduate medical education, Rural and remote areas, Scotland, Family medicine and general practice, Social accountability",

author = "Fiona Graham and Jonathan Dowell and Angela Flynn and Shalini Gupta and Andrew MacFarlane and Andrew O'Malley and Robert Scully and Sullivan, {Francis Michael} and Thompson, {Lloyd Samuel John} and Kirsty Alexander",

note = "Funding: The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article. We thank the University of Dundee for funding the article processing charge.",

year = "2025",

month = jul,

day = "14",

doi = "10.3389/fmed.2025.1586851",

language = "English",

volume = "12",

pages = "1--12",

journal = "Frontiers in Medicine",

issn = "2296-858X",

publisher = "Frontiers Media S. A.",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Development and innovation in a new distributed medical programme

T2 - Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM)

AU - Graham, Fiona

AU - Dowell, Jonathan

AU - Flynn, Angela

AU - Gupta, Shalini

AU - MacFarlane, Andrew

AU - O'Malley, Andrew

AU - Scully, Robert

AU - Sullivan, Francis Michael

AU - Thompson, Lloyd Samuel John

AU - Alexander, Kirsty

N1 - Funding: The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research and/or publication of this article. We thank the University of Dundee for funding the article processing charge.

PY - 2025/7/14

Y1 - 2025/7/14

N2 - Introduction: Addressing the shortage of primary-care physicians, especially in remote and rural areas, is a crucial target in many countries. This article introduces the Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM) programme: a compressed, tailor-made curriculum designed to equip and enthuse its graduates to practice generalist and rural medicine in Scotland, within the ethos of socially accountable medicine.Methods: This curriculum paper describes ScotGEM in sufficient detail for the reader to translate elements to their own context. It then collates findings from evaluations, research projects and many critical discussions about the programme. This work is used to describe and evaluate the curriculum design and delivery, with a focus on the distributed aspects.Results: Three key innovations of the curriculum are explored in detail: the Generalist Clinical Mentor (GCM) role; the year-long primary care Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC); and the Agents of Change curriculum. There are early signs that ScotGEM is encouraging generalist, rural careers within Scotland. There is also growing evidence of the benefits ScotGEM faculty and students bring to the clinical workforce in the distributed settings.Discussion: Distributed programmes require additional organization for students and faculty. Partnerships can be challenging but immensely rewarding. Healthcare partners in rural areas need to be involved early in planning and strong relationships fostered with local “champions.”

AB - Introduction: Addressing the shortage of primary-care physicians, especially in remote and rural areas, is a crucial target in many countries. This article introduces the Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM) programme: a compressed, tailor-made curriculum designed to equip and enthuse its graduates to practice generalist and rural medicine in Scotland, within the ethos of socially accountable medicine.Methods: This curriculum paper describes ScotGEM in sufficient detail for the reader to translate elements to their own context. It then collates findings from evaluations, research projects and many critical discussions about the programme. This work is used to describe and evaluate the curriculum design and delivery, with a focus on the distributed aspects.Results: Three key innovations of the curriculum are explored in detail: the Generalist Clinical Mentor (GCM) role; the year-long primary care Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship (LIC); and the Agents of Change curriculum. There are early signs that ScotGEM is encouraging generalist, rural careers within Scotland. There is also growing evidence of the benefits ScotGEM faculty and students bring to the clinical workforce in the distributed settings.Discussion: Distributed programmes require additional organization for students and faculty. Partnerships can be challenging but immensely rewarding. Healthcare partners in rural areas need to be involved early in planning and strong relationships fostered with local “champions.”

KW - Distributed training

KW - Undergraduate medical education

KW - Rural and remote areas

KW - Scotland

KW - Family medicine and general practice

KW - Social accountability

U2 - 10.3389/fmed.2025.1586851

DO - 10.3389/fmed.2025.1586851

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105011977275

SN - 2296-858X

VL - 12

SP - 1

EP - 12

JO - Frontiers in Medicine

JF - Frontiers in Medicine

M1 - 1586851

ER -

Development and innovation in a new distributed medical programme: Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine (ScotGEM)

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this