What influences young doctors in their decision-making about general practice as a possible career? A qualitative study.

Harris, Michael; Wainwright, David; Wainwright, Elaine (2020). What influences young doctors in their decision-making about general practice as a possible career? A qualitative study. Education for Primary Care, 31(1), pp. 15-23. Taylor & Francis 10.1080/14739879.2019.1697967

	Text Harris EducPrimCare 2019_epub.pdf - Published Version Restricted to registered users only Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Download (1MB) | Request a copy
Preview	Text Harris EducPrimCare 2019_postprint.pdf - Accepted Version Available under License Publisher holds Copyright. Download (131kB) | Preview

Background: Recruitment to General Practitioner (GP) training programmes in the United Kingdom is poor. Colleagues' negative comments about general practice could contribute to this.Aim: To investigate what influences Foundation Year 2 (FY2) doctors in their decisions to choose general practice as a career, and how colleagues' comments about GPs might affect those decisions.Design and Setting: A qualitative study in Southwest England.Method: Thematic analysis of interviews with FY2 doctors.Results: Twenty-four doctors participated. They thought that GPs worked hard and had very varied clinical work. The effect on their career choice depended on their personalities. GP placement experiences significantly influenced their career intentions. The loneliness of working in general practice was a key concern. FY2 doctors thought colleagues' criticisms of GPs did not reflect reality and were outdated. 'Banter' had little effect on career choices.Conclusion: Person-specialty fit and FY2 doctors' experiences of GP work have a significant effect on career choices. Loneliness in their GP work placements is a particular problem that should be addressed. While colleagues' derogatory comments about GPs may affect medical students' views on their career choices, they appear to have little effect on the career decision-making of qualified doctors.Abbreviations: CMT: Core Medical Training; FY2: Foundation Year 2; GP: general practitioner; NHS: National Health Service; UK: United Kingdom.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

63 since deposited on 30 Dec 2019
48 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item