Dear colleagues,
For those of you looking after medical schools.
How are you organising to screen applicants for HBsAg, now that the Council
of Heads of Medical Schools has issued its guidance that all should be
screened before acceptance.
Specifically:
1. What screening test are you asking for?
2. When are you asking them to get tested?
3. Will you accept tests from overseas laboratories?
4. What will you do with those who are HBsAg positive?
At Imperial,:
1. We're using HBsAg as the screening test.
2. We're asking all who are selected for interview to get tested prior
to interview & bring the test result with them to be passed on, in
confidence to OccHealth (we interview c.1000, offer to c.800, accept c.350
onto the course)
3. We will not accept overseas results, but as all overseas applicants
have to come here for interview, we'll bleed them when they come.
4. Anyone HBsAg positive will be instructed that they must have a viral
load test done in accordance with the DoH guidelines & submit the result
before their offer is confirmed. Any with load >1000/ ml will be rejected.
We'll advise UK students to ask their GP to refer them to a hepatologist for
assessment in the hope that they'll not have to fork out the £400 for the
test themselves.
The final, rhetorical question is why did the CHMS only issue their guidance
1 month before the admissions cycle for next year starts!
Dr. Alan Swann, BM, AFOM
Director of Occupational Health
Occupational Health Service
Imperial College Health Centre
Watts Way
London
SW7 1 LU
Tel: +44 (20) 7594 9385
Fax: +44 (20) 7594 9407
http://www.ad.ic.ac.uk/occ_health/ <http://www.ad.ic.ac.uk/occ_health/>
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