Advanced life support training is declining for medical students and junior doctors; this risks leaving them unprepared for medical emergencies, write Umika Moorjani , James Patrick , and Kwaku Baryeh
In 2021, Health Education England removed advanced life support as a mandatory component of foundation training.1 This was the result of a directive from the General Medical Council to remove all named courses from postgraduate training.2 Advanced life support training teaches and assesses providers on how to manage and lead a cardiac arrest from start to finish using medications, chest compressions, and manual defibrillation. It differs from basic life support by providing advanced skills such as interpreting cardiac rhythms, administering appropriate medications, and performing advanced airway techniques during a cardiac arrest. NHS England instead recommends a “blended learning approach” involving simulation or on-the-job learning to reduce face-to-face training and save on staffing and training costs.2 In our experience as clinical teaching fellows, we have noticed a decline in advanced life support training at undergraduate and postgraduate …