Number of FY2 doctors moving straight into specialty training falls again

Only just over a third of doctors who have successfully completed the foundation training programme now choose to go straight into specialty training.

The latest UK Foundation Programme career destinations report, which is based on a survey of 6407 foundation year 2 (FY2) doctors in 2018 (an 86.8% response rate), showed that the trend to take a break between finishing foundation training and starting a specialty post, sometimes known as the FY3 year, is growing.1

In 2018, 37.7% of FY2s immediately took up a specialty post, down from 42.6% in 2017, 50.4% in 2016, and 71.3% in 2011, when the survey was first conducted.

There was little change to the percentage of foundation trainees remaining in the UK to work as a doctor, either in service or training posts, compared with previous years. In 2018, 69.7% were doing so or planning to do so, compared with 69.6% in 2017 and 66.2% in 2016.2

“There has been little overall change to this percentage over the past five years, indicating that many doctors completing foundation training are continuing to make an important contribution to the care of patients within the NHS,” the report said.

At the beginning of foundation year 1, 9.6% of trainees said that they planned to take a career break after foundation, compared with 6.4% in 2017, the report said. At the end of foundation training, this increased to 14.4% of trainees planning a career break, compared with 13.8% in 2017.

The percentage of trainees who said that they had applied to enter (but were not necessarily appointed to) specialty training fell from 55.7% in 2017 to 51.9% in 2018.

Despite the seemingly low numbers choosing to progress straight into specialty training, the report said that data from the General Medical Council suggested that most trainees who do not immediately enter specialty training still do so within three years of completing foundation.3

Commenting on the report’s findings on Twitter, deputy chair of the BMA Junior Doctors Committee Sarah Hallett said that trainees were choosing to take a break between foundation and specialty training for a number of reasons.4

“It’s the first natural break after years of intense work at medical school, plus the more people who do it, the more socially acceptable it becomes,” she said. “However, data both from the BMA careers survey5 and GMC reports show that burnout is a significant contributor, and burnout seems also to peak at FY2. This is likely a huge driver towards needing some time away from formal training.”

Hallett added, “Service roles are often much more flexible and allow greater control over your life than training posts; it’s also much easier to choose where you’re working. There is likely to be a drive towards taking this ‘FY3’ year out to make yourself more competitive in specialty applications, as many of your colleagues who do so will undertake exams, courses, audits, QI [quality improvement] projects, teaching.”