Editor's Choice | This Week in BMJ | Press releases

BMJ No 7099 Volume 315 News Saturday 5 July 1997 Internet images attract GP trainees to west Wales Sun, sea, and surfing on the internet are being used to entice trainee GPs to Wales. Those who tune into a new vocational training scheme web site will find pictures of doctors enjoying themselves on the beaches, in the sea, and on the cliffs of west Wales as part of a bid to sell the area to trainees. "On the site you will find the most glorious pictures of Wales. There are doctors windsurfing and rock climbing, pictures of the scenery and the national park, pictures of a female doctor (who happens to be blonde) standing on the beach, and pictures of puffins and wildlife," explained Dr Simon Smail, director of postgraduate education for GPs in Wales. All of the models used in the images on the web site (http://www.hwest.demon.co.uk/Vts.htm) are real doctors working in the area. Although in its infancy, the web site, run from Haverfordwest in west Wales, has attracted several inquiries from would be trainees with a passion for combining outdoor life with general practice. And consumer research carried out among trainees in Wales shows that such images should not be underrated in trying to attract trainees. The survey found that what goes on outside the surgery door is important. "We discovered that environmental factors, in terms of how well people are looked after, play a very big part in determining which schemes they will apply for. Trainees told us that they more or less took for granted the quality of training in general practice," said Dr Smail. "They rate very highly the general ambience of the place where they work and live. They look at the social and geographical environment, and they like friendly places," he added. The internet recruitment venture is not the first in Wales. The University of Wales College of Medicine has already attracted American students to its distance learning postgraduate diploma in therapeutics in general practice. "We put details on our web page, and we recruited a couple of family practitioners from San Francisco. They had to come over to Wales twice, once for a compulsory weekend session, and then for the exams, which they have now passed. All the rest of the work they did by email," said Dr Smail. Roger Dobson, Cardiff Home | Current issue | Past issues | Classified ads | Career Focus | Feedback Collections | About this site | About the BMJ | BMA | Medline