Career destinations seven years on among doctors who qualified in the United Kingdom in 1988: postal questionnaire survey
BMJ 1998; 317 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.317.7170.1429 (Published 21 November 1998) Cite this as: BMJ 1998;317:1429
- Trevor W Lambert, statistician (trevor.lambert{at}public-health.oxford.ac.uk),
- Michael J Goldacre, director
- UK Medical Careers Research Group, Unit of Health-Care Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7L
- Correspondence to: Mr Lambert
- Accepted 28 July 1998
Abstract
Objective: To report the career choices and career destinations in 1995 of doctors who qualified in the United Kingdom in 1988.
Design: Postal questionnaire.
Setting: United Kingdom.
Subjects: All doctors who qualified in the United Kingdom in 1988.
Main outcome measures: Current employment.
Results: Of the 3724 doctors who were sent questionnaires, eight had died and three declined to participate. Of the remaining 3713 doctors, 2885 (77.7%) replied. 16.9% (608/3593; 95% confidence interval 16.1% to 17.8%) of all 1988 qualifiers from medical schools in Great Britain were not working in the NHS in Great Britain in 1995 compared with 17.0% (624/3674; 16.1% to 17.9%) of the 1983 cohort in 1990. The proportion of doctors working in general practice was lower than in previous cohorts. The percentage of women in general practice (44.3% (528/1192)) substantially exceeded that of men (33.1% (443/1340)). 53% (276/522) of the women in general practice and 20% (98/490) of the women in hospital specialties worked part time.
Conclusions:Concerns about recruitment difficulties in general practice are justified. Women are now entering general practice in greater numbers than men. There is no evidence of a greater exodus from the NHS from the 1988 qualifiers than from earlier cohorts.
Footnotes
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Funding The UK Medical Careers Research Group is funded by the Department of Health. The Unit of Health-Care Epidemiology is funded by the Anglia and Oxford Regional Office of the NHS Executive.
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Competing interests None declared.