Career destinations seven years on among doctors who qualified in the United Kingdom in 1988: postal questionnaire survey

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.