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. 2017 Apr;67(657):e238-e247.
doi: 10.3399/bjgp17X689893. Epub 2017 Mar 13.

Trends in attractiveness of general practice as a career: surveys of views of UK-trained doctors

Trevor W Lambert  1 , Fay Smith  1 , Michael J Goldacre  1
Affiliations

Trends in attractiveness of general practice as a career: surveys of views of UK-trained doctors

Trevor W Lambert et al. Br J Gen Pract. 2017 Apr.

Abstract

Background: It is current UK policy to expand the numbers of newly qualified doctors entering training to become GPs, to meet increased demand.

Aim: To report on trends in young doctors' views on the attractiveness of general practice as a career, compared with hospital practice.

Design and setting: Questionnaire surveys in the UK.

Method: Surveys of doctors, 3 years after graduation, conducted in successive year-of-qualification cohorts between 1999 and 2015.

Results: The overall response rate from contactable doctors was 55%. In response to the statement 'General practice is more attractive than hospital practice for doctors at present', 59% of doctors agreed in the 1999 survey, 77% in 2005, and only 36% in 2015. One-third of doctors agreed that their exposure to general practice had been insufficient for them to assess it as a career option, but this improved over time: agreement fell from 39% in 1999 to 28% in 2015. As a factor influencing specialty choice, enthusiasm for, and commitment to, the specialty was rated as very important by 65% of intending GPs in 2015, up from 49% in 1999; the corresponding figures for intending hospital doctors were 91% in 2015, up from 61% in 1999.

Conclusion: Over the 16 years covered by this study, the attractiveness of general practice has fallen relative to hospital practice. This may not necessarily reflect a decline in attractiveness of general practice in absolute terms; rather, it may reflect a greater increase, over time, in the appeal of hospital practice.

Keywords: career choice; general practice; health workforce; hospital practice.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Trends between 1999 and 2015 in factors affecting career choices, for doctors who chose general practice and hospital practice: percentages of responders in each survey cohort who stated that each factor had a great deal of influence on their career choice. Availability of career posts was excluded from the survey of the 2002 graduates.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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