I have met some brilliant midwives who have done the short course but by and large I think DE come out with a better understanding of midwifery. In our first year we sat in on OSCE training with some near to be qualified RGNs. We knew more than them then and still had two years to go.

I have had the comments from m/ws and shortcourse students alike. However in our trust the DEs consistently are the ones who are employed so that speaks for itself.