Two thirds of foundation doctors secured specialty training posts in 2012
BMJ 2013; 346 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f31 (Published 04 January 2013) Cite this as: BMJ 2013;346:f31
Two thirds (67%) of doctors who successfully completed the foundation programme in August 2012 were appointed to a specialty training post in the United Kingdom, down slightly from 71.3% in 2011.
A total of 7.4% were still seeking employment as a doctor in the UK, and 5.5% were seeking employment as a doctor outside the UK, a rise from 6.3% and 3.7%, respectively, in 2011.
Some of those who did not take up a UK specialty training post secured either a service post in the UK (6.6%) or a specialty training post outside the UK (1.1%). These figures were marginally higher than in 2011, when 2.3% and 0.8%, respectively, did so. A further 6.6% found some other appointment outside the UK.
Only 0.8% of those in a service post abroad and 1.3% in a specialty training post had left because they were unable to find employment in the UK. Of these, 61% and 32%, respectively, intended to return to UK practice within five years.
The UK Foundation Programme Office has said that more information was needed about the long term career outcomes of recent medical graduates. It believes that this information would help clarify how many recent medical graduates are retained in or return to the UK health sector.
Between March and September 2012 the Foundation Programme Office surveyed all foundation year 2 doctors in the UK who had been due to complete the programme in August 2012. A total of 6658 foundation year 2 doctors who completed the foundation programme in August 2012 and 433 doctors who completed the academic foundation programme provided data about their next career destination (98% response rate).
A third (33.5%) of respondents were appointed to a run-through training programme in the UK, and a similar proportion (30.5%) were appointed to a core training programme. A total of 1.6% were appointed to an academic specialty training programme, most of whom had completed the academic foundation programme.
The remaining doctors who landed specialty training posts in the UK either took up fixed term specialty training appointments (0.8% of the total) or deferred their place. Those who deferred places did so to undertake a higher degree (0.1%) or for statutory reasons (0.5%).
Doctors who trained in a UK medical school were slightly more likely to secure a specialty training post (67.8%) than those who trained in a European country (57.6%) or in a country outside the European Economic Area (57.1%).
Download the full results of the national F2 career destination survey at www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk/news/story/ukfpo-publishes-f2-career-destination-survey-results.