BMJ Open (Sep 2023)

Career intentions of medical students in the UK: a national, cross-sectional study (AIMS study)

  • ,
  • Richard J Samworth,
  • Rita Horvath,
  • sukhdev Singh,
  • Imogen Milner,
  • Jenny Yang,
  • Emma Hitchcock,
  • Daniel MaGee,
  • William Thompson,
  • Emma Slack,
  • Wentin Chen,
  • Alexandra Thomas,
  • Tomas Ferreira,
  • Anson Wong,
  • Kavyesh Vivek,
  • Ellena Leigh,
  • Riya Patel,
  • Guilherme Movio,
  • Tushar Rakhecha,
  • Alexander M Collins,
  • Oliver Feng,
  • Mario K Teo,
  • Crispin C Wigfield,
  • Dania Al-Hashimi,
  • Maeve K Mulchrone,
  • Alisha Pervaiz,
  • Heather A Lewis,
  • Florence Gilks,
  • Charlotte Casteleyn,
  • Sara Kidher,
  • Erin Fitzsimons-West,
  • Tanzil Rujeedawa,
  • Meghna Sreekumar,
  • Eliza Wade,
  • Juel Choppy-Madeleine,
  • Yasemin Durmus,
  • Olivia King,
  • Yu Ning Ooi,
  • Malvi Shah,
  • Tan Jih Yih,
  • Samantha Burley,
  • Basma R Khan,
  • Rishik S Pilla,
  • Vaishvi Dalal,
  • Brennan L Gibson,
  • Emma Westwood,
  • Brandon S H Low,
  • Sara R Sabur,
  • Maryam A Malik,
  • Safa Razzaq,
  • Amardeep Sidki,
  • Giulia Cianci,
  • Felicity Greenfield,
  • Sajad Hussain,
  • Annie Harrison,
  • Hugo Bernie,
  • Luke Dcaccia,
  • Linnuel J Pregil,
  • Olivia Rowe,
  • Ananya Jain,
  • Gregory K Anyaegbunam,
  • Syed Z Jafri,
  • Arthur Handscomb,
  • Sudhanvita Arun,
  • Alfaiya Hashmi,
  • Ankith Pandian,
  • Joseph R Nicholson,
  • Hannah Layton-Joyce,
  • Kouther Mohsin,
  • Matilda Gardener,
  • Eunice C Y Kwan,
  • Emily R Finbow,
  • Sakshi Roy,
  • Zoe M Constantinou,
  • Mackenzie Garlick,
  • Clare L Carney,
  • Samantha Gold,
  • Bilal Qureshi,
  • Grace Annetts,
  • Tamara Magallon-McGeorge,
  • Khyatee Shah,
  • Kholood T Munir,
  • Timothy Neill,
  • Gurpreet K Atwal,
  • Anesu Kusosa,
  • Anthony Vijayanathan,
  • Mia Mäntylä,
  • Momina Iqbal,
  • Sara Raja,
  • Muhammad H Shah,
  • Pranjil Pokharel,
  • Ashna Anil,
  • Kate Stenning,
  • Katie Appleton,
  • Keerthana Uthayakumar,
  • Rajan Panacer,
  • Yasmin Owadally,
  • Dilaxiha Rajendran,
  • Harsh S Modalavalasa,
  • Marta M Komosa,
  • Morea Turjaka,
  • Sruthi Saravanan,
  • Amelia Dickson,
  • Jack M Read,
  • Georgina Cooper,
  • Wing Chi Do,
  • Chiamaka Anthony-Okeke,
  • Daria M Bageac,
  • David C W Loh,
  • Rida Khan,
  • Ruth Omenyo,
  • Aidan Baker,
  • Manon Everard,
  • Wajiha Rahman,
  • Denis Chen,
  • Michael E Bryan,
  • Shama Maliha,
  • Amber Dhoot Vera Onongaya,
  • Catherine L Otoibhi,
  • Harry Donkin-Everton,
  • Mia K Whelan,
  • Claudia S F Hobson,
  • Anthony Haynes,
  • Joshua Bayes-Green,
  • Mariam S Malik,
  • Subanki Srisakthivel,
  • Sophie Kidd,
  • Alan Saji,
  • Govind Dhillon,
  • Muhammed Asif,
  • Jessica L Marshall,
  • Nain T Raja,
  • Tawfique Rizwan,
  • Aleksandra Dunin-Borkowska,
  • James Brawn,
  • Karthig Thillaivasan,
  • Zainah Sindhoo,
  • Ayeza Akhtar,
  • Kelly Fletcher,
  • Lok Pong Cheng,
  • Medha Pillaai,
  • Sakshi Garg,
  • Wajahat Khan,
  • Ria Bhatt Ben Sweeney,
  • Madison Slight,
  • Adan MI Chew,
  • Cameron Thurlow,
  • Kriti Yadav,
  • Niranjan Rajesh,
  • Nathan-Dhruv Mistry,
  • Alyssa Weissman,
  • Juan FE Jaramillo,
  • Gregor W Abercromby,
  • Emily Gaskin,
  • Chloe Milton,
  • Matthew Kokkat,
  • Momina Hussain,
  • Nana A Ohene-Darkoh,
  • Syeda T Islam,
  • Anushruti Yadav,
  • Eve Richings,
  • Samuel Foxcroft,
  • Vivek Sivadev,
  • Harriet Charlton,
  • James A Cairn,
  • Julia Shaaban,
  • Leah Njenje,
  • Mark J Bishop,
  • Humairaa Ismail,
  • Sarah L Henderson,
  • Daniel C Chalk,
  • Daniel J Mckenna,
  • Fizah Hasan,
  • Kanishka Saxena,
  • Iona E Gibson,
  • Saad Dosani

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-075598
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 9

Abstract

Read online

Objective To determine current UK medical students’ career intentions after graduation and on completing the Foundation Programme (FP), and to ascertain the motivations behind these intentions.Design Cross-sectional, mixed-methods survey of UK medical students, using a non-random sampling method.Setting All 44 UK medical schools recognised by the General Medical Council.Participants All UK medical students were eligible to participate. The study sample consisted of 10 486 participants, approximately 25.50% of the medical student population.Outcome measures Career intentions of medical students postgraduation and post-FP, motivations behind these career intentions, characterising the medical student population and correlating demographic factors and propensity to leave the National Health Service (NHS).Results The majority of participating students (8806/10 486, 83.98%) planned to complete both years of the FP after graduation, with under half of these students (4294/8806, 48.76%) intending to pursue specialty training thereafter. A subanalysis of career intentions after the FP by year of study revealed a significant decrease in students’ intentions to enter specialty training as they advanced through medical school. Approximately a third of surveyed students (3392/10 486, 32.35%) intended to emigrate to practise medicine, with 42.57% (n=1444) of those students not planning to return. In total, 2.89% of students intended to leave medicine altogether (n=303). Remuneration, work-life balance and working conditions were identified as important factors in decision-making regarding emigration and leaving the profession. Subgroup analyses based on gender, type of schooling, fee type and educational background were performed. Only 17.26% of surveyed students were satisfied or very satisfied with the overall prospect of working in the NHS.Conclusions The Ascertaining the career Intentions of UK Medical Students study highlights UK students’ views and career intentions, revealing a concerning proportion of those surveyed considering alternative careers or emigration. Addressing factors such as remuneration, work-life balance and working conditions may increase retention of doctors and improve workforce planning efforts.