Recruitment of UK-trained doctors into general practice: findings from national cohort studies.

BACKGROUND: In recent years there have been difficulties with recruitment in the United Kingdom (UK) to principalships in general practice. AIM: To compare recruitment trends in cohorts defined by year of qualification and to report attitudes of young doctors about the attractiveness of a career in...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Lambert, T, Evans, J, Goldacre, M
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2002
_version_ 1797059052452184064
author Lambert, T
Evans, J
Goldacre, M
author_facet Lambert, T
Evans, J
Goldacre, M
author_sort Lambert, T
collection OXFORD
description BACKGROUND: In recent years there have been difficulties with recruitment in the United Kingdom (UK) to principalships in general practice. AIM: To compare recruitment trends in cohorts defined by year of qualification and to report attitudes of young doctors about the attractiveness of a career in general practice. DESIGN OF STUDY: Cohort studies. SETTING: UK medical qualifiers in the years 1974, 1977, 1983, 1988, 1993, and 1996. METHOD: Postal questionnaire surveys conductedfrom 1975 to 1999. RESULTS: Five years after qualification, 23.8% of 1993 qualifiers were in UK general practice, compared with 25.9% and 32.8% of 1988 and 1983 qualifiers respectively. Six per cent of responders in the 1993 cohort were general practitioner (GP) principals, compared with 10% of the 1988 cohort and 20% of the 1983 cohort. Ten years after qualification, 37.7% of 1988 qualifiers and 42.7% of 1983 qualifiers were in UK general practice. Older GPs had lower job satisfaction than their contemporaries in hospital practice, while younger GPs were more satisfied than younger hospital doctors with the time available for leisure. Although young doctors are less inclined to enter general practice nowadays, over haf of the 1996 qualifiers, when surveyed in 1999, actually regarded general practice as a more attractive career than hospital practice. CONCLUSION: Patterns of entry into and commitment to UK general practice are changing. Fewer young doctors are choosing and entering general practice and early commitment to full-time principalships is falling. The 1996 cohort, however, took an encouragingly positive view of the attractiveness of careers in general practice.
first_indexed 2024-03-06T19:58:47Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:268d7c18-7050-4650-94d9-ebf8ba543a76
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-06T19:58:47Z
publishDate 2002
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:268d7c18-7050-4650-94d9-ebf8ba543a762022-03-26T12:01:41ZRecruitment of UK-trained doctors into general practice: findings from national cohort studies.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:268d7c18-7050-4650-94d9-ebf8ba543a76EnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2002Lambert, TEvans, JGoldacre, M BACKGROUND: In recent years there have been difficulties with recruitment in the United Kingdom (UK) to principalships in general practice. AIM: To compare recruitment trends in cohorts defined by year of qualification and to report attitudes of young doctors about the attractiveness of a career in general practice. DESIGN OF STUDY: Cohort studies. SETTING: UK medical qualifiers in the years 1974, 1977, 1983, 1988, 1993, and 1996. METHOD: Postal questionnaire surveys conductedfrom 1975 to 1999. RESULTS: Five years after qualification, 23.8% of 1993 qualifiers were in UK general practice, compared with 25.9% and 32.8% of 1988 and 1983 qualifiers respectively. Six per cent of responders in the 1993 cohort were general practitioner (GP) principals, compared with 10% of the 1988 cohort and 20% of the 1983 cohort. Ten years after qualification, 37.7% of 1988 qualifiers and 42.7% of 1983 qualifiers were in UK general practice. Older GPs had lower job satisfaction than their contemporaries in hospital practice, while younger GPs were more satisfied than younger hospital doctors with the time available for leisure. Although young doctors are less inclined to enter general practice nowadays, over haf of the 1996 qualifiers, when surveyed in 1999, actually regarded general practice as a more attractive career than hospital practice. CONCLUSION: Patterns of entry into and commitment to UK general practice are changing. Fewer young doctors are choosing and entering general practice and early commitment to full-time principalships is falling. The 1996 cohort, however, took an encouragingly positive view of the attractiveness of careers in general practice.
spellingShingle Lambert, T
Evans, J
Goldacre, M
Recruitment of UK-trained doctors into general practice: findings from national cohort studies.
title Recruitment of UK-trained doctors into general practice: findings from national cohort studies.
title_full Recruitment of UK-trained doctors into general practice: findings from national cohort studies.
title_fullStr Recruitment of UK-trained doctors into general practice: findings from national cohort studies.
title_full_unstemmed Recruitment of UK-trained doctors into general practice: findings from national cohort studies.
title_short Recruitment of UK-trained doctors into general practice: findings from national cohort studies.
title_sort recruitment of uk trained doctors into general practice findings from national cohort studies
work_keys_str_mv AT lambertt recruitmentofuktraineddoctorsintogeneralpracticefindingsfromnationalcohortstudies
AT evansj recruitmentofuktraineddoctorsintogeneralpracticefindingsfromnationalcohortstudies
AT goldacrem recruitmentofuktraineddoctorsintogeneralpracticefindingsfromnationalcohortstudies