Anosmia added to national medical assessment guidance thanks to Fifth Sense efforts
We’re very pleased to announce that anosmia has been added to the General Medical Council’s Medical Licensing Assessment content map thanks to lobbying by Fifth Sense.
The MLA content map sets out the core knowledge, skills and behaviours that medical trainees are assessed on to be ready to practice in the UK.
Smell and taste disorders have never been a standard part of the medical curriculum, something that Fifth Sense is intent on changing. We first contacted the GMC in 2019 to formally request that anosmia be added to the content map. CEO Duncan Boak and Director of Research and Medical Affairs Prof Carl Philpott wrote again in June 2020, arguing that the significant increase in people experiencing smell impairment due to Covid-19 was highlighting the need for improved education and training across the healthcare profession.
As a result, anosmia has been added to the list of presenting symptoms as part of the latest revision of the content map. This means that all medical graduates in the UK will need to understand this symptom and how to consider a differential diagnosis for it. We are continuing to liaise with the GMC and have requested that parosmia and post-viral olfactory disorders also be added to the symptom list and diagnoses respectively.
‘This is an important step towards smell and taste disorders being embedded in the curriculum in all medical schools,’ said Duncan. ‘The Barriers to Effective Healthcare research we had published in 2021 shows that people with impaired smell and taste routinely face a lack of recognition, diagnosis and treatment from healthcare professionals. There’s a real need for increased knowledge and more specialist services.’
Professor Philpott said ‘Whilst smell and taste disorders have been part of the curriculum at Norwich Medical School for over a decade, we recognise that in other schools it has not been taught and many doctors join the profession with no knowledge of smell and taste disorders. The MLA will ensure all medical graduates achieve a common standard of knowledge and all medical schools will therefore need to address this in their curriculae.’
The current version and a summary of recent changes can be found on the GLA website at: gmc-uk.org/education/medical-licensing-assessment/mla-content-map.