Study leave budgets: accessing the money

Funding of postgraduate training is a hotly debated topic. Trainees incur significant expenses to cover examinations, compulsory certification and courses to further their educational progression. To support these activities, trainees have access to a “study budget” provided by their deanery.1 The amount of money varies between deaneries, a disparity highlighted by a 2007 national survey of postgraduate centres.2 In addition to this inequality in funding between deaneries, we feel there is further inequality between trusts in whether trainees are able to access that money. In London, each trainee is allocated £800, accessible via the Postgraduate Medical Education Department (PGME) in each …