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UK-trained junior doctors' intentions to work in UK medicine: questionnaire surveys, three years after graduation.

ABSTRACT: Objective To report on the career intentions, three years after qualification, of 12 national cohorts of UK-trained doctors who qualified between 1974 and 2012, and, specifically, to compare recent UK medical graduates' intentions to work in medicine in the UK with earlier graduates. Design Questionnaire surveys of cohorts of UK medical graduates defined by year of graduation. Setting UK. Participants 30,272 UK medical graduates. Main outcome measures Stated level of intention to pursue a long-term career in medicine in the UK. Results The response rate was 62% (30,272/48,927). We examined responses to the question ' Apart from temporary visits abroad, do you intend to practise medicine in the United Kingdom for the foreseeable future?' Of doctors from UK homes, 90% had specified that they would 'definitely or probably' practise medicine in the UK in the surveys of 1977-1986, 81% in 1996-2011 and 64% in 2015. Those who said that they would probably or definitely not practise medicine in the UK comprised 5% in 1977-1986, 8% in 1996-2011 and 15% in 2015. Most who were not definite about a future career in UK medicine indicated that they would wish to practise medicine outside the UK rather than to leave medicine. Conclusions The wish to remain in UK medical practice in the 2015 survey was unprecedentedly low in this unique series of 40 years of surveys.

SUBMITTER: Surman G

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5734480 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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UK-trained junior doctors' intentions to work in UK medicine: questionnaire surveys, three years after graduation.

Surman Geraldine G Goldacre Michael J MJ Lambert Trevor W TW

Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 20171108 12

Objective To report on the career intentions, three years after qualification, of 12 national cohorts of UK-trained doctors who qualified between 1974 and 2012, and, specifically, to compare recent UK medical graduates' intentions to work in medicine in the UK with earlier graduates. Design Questionnaire surveys of cohorts of UK medical graduates defined by year of graduation. Setting UK. Participants 30,272 UK medical graduates. Main outcome measures Stated level of intention to pursue a long-t ...[more]

PMID: 29116902

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Project description:BackgroundThe transition from medical student to junior doctor in postgraduate training is a critical stage in career progression. We report junior doctors' views about the extent to which their medical school prepared them for their work in clinical practice.MethodsPostal questionnaires were used to survey the medical graduates of 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2005, from all UK medical schools, one year after graduation, and graduates of 2000, 2002 and 2005 three years after graduation. Summary statistics, chi-squared tests, and binary logistic regression were used to analyse the results. The main outcome measure was the level of agreement that medical school had prepared the responder well for work.ResultsResponse rate was 63.7% (11610/18216) in year one and 60.2% (8427/13997) in year three. One year after graduation, 36.3% (95% CI: 34.6, 38.0) of 1999/2000 graduates, 50.3% (48.5, 52.2) of 2002 graduates, and 58.2% (56.5, 59.9) of 2005 graduates agreed their medical school had prepared them well. Conversely, in year three agreement fell from 48.9% (47.1, 50.7) to 38.0% (36.0, 40.0) to 28.0% (26.2, 29.7). Combining cohorts at year one, percentages who agreed that they had been well prepared ranged from 82% (95% CI: 79-87) at the medical school with the highest level of agreement to 30% (25-35) at the lowest. At year three the range was 70% to 27%. Ethnicity and sex were partial predictors of doctors' level of agreement; following adjustment for them, substantial differences between schools remained. In years one and three, 30% and 34% of doctors specified that feeling unprepared had been a serious or medium-sized problem for them (only 3% in each year regarded it as serious).ConclusionsThe vast knowledge base of clinical practice makes full preparation impossible. Our statement about feeling prepared is simple yet discriminating and identified some substantial differences between medical schools. Medical schools need feedback from graduates about elements of training that could be improved.

Project description:OBJECTIVES:To examine what activities constitute the work of Foundation doctors and understand the factors that determine how that work is constructed. DESIGN:Cross-sectional mixed methods study. Questionnaire survey of the frequency with which activities specified in curricular documents are performed. Semistructured interviews and focus groups. SETTING:Postgraduate medical training in the UK. PARTICIPANTS:Doctors in their first 2 years of postgraduate practice (Foundation Programme). Staff who work with Foundation doctors-supervisors, nurses and employers (clinical; non-clinical). RESULTS:Survey data from 3697 Foundation doctors identified curricular activities (41/103, 42%) that are carried out routinely (performed at least once or twice per week by >75% of respondents). However, another 30 activities (29%) were carried out rarely (at least once or twice per week by <25% respondents), largely because they are routinely part of nurses', and not doctors', work. Junior doctors indicated their work constituted three roles: 'support' of ward and team, 'independent practitioner' and 'learner'. The support function dominated work, but conflicted with stereotyped expectations of what 'being a doctor' would be. It was, however, valued by the other staff groups. The learner role was felt to be incidental to practice, but was couched in a limited definition of learning that related to new skills, rather than consolidation and practice. Activities and perceived role were shaped by the organisational context, medical hierarchies and through relationships with nurses, which could change unpredictably and cause tension. Training progression did not affect what activities were done, but supported greater autonomy in how they were carried out. CONCLUSIONS:New doctors must be fit for multiple roles. Strategies for transition should manage graduates' expectations of real-world work, and encourage teams and organisations to better accommodate graduates. These strategies may help ensure that new doctors can adapt to the variable demands of the evolving multiprofessional workforce.

Dataset Information

UK-trained junior doctors' intentions to work in UK medicine: questionnaire surveys, three years after graduation.

Publications

UK-trained junior doctors' intentions to work in UK medicine: questionnaire surveys, three years after graduation.

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