Table 6.
Percentages of doctors whose first choice of long-term career was for ophthalmology and other careers, who specified each factor as influencing their choice of long-term career a great deal: graduates of 1993–2002
| First choice of long-term career | ||||
| Factor influencing career choice 'a great deal' | Ophthal mology | Other surgery | Other careers excluding GP | GP |
| % (n) | % (n) | % (n) | % (n) | |
| Year One | ||||
| Domestic circumstances | 15.5 (46) | 7.9(189) | 13.7 (986) | 37.7(1319) |
| Hours/working conditions | 60.7 (181) | 17.4(414) | 35.2(2546) | 73.7(2597) |
| Future financial prospects | 29.4 (87) | 19.0(453) | 10.1(728) | 15.7(552) |
| Career & promotion prospects | 28.6 (85) | 26.8 (639) | 25.0 (1803) | 16.5(580) |
| Self-appraisal of own skills/aptitudes | 42.1 (125) | 50.9 (1212) | 49.7 (3582) | 46.3 (1625) |
| Advice from others | 29.4 (87) | 16.2(383) | 16.6(1199) | 16.3(570) |
| Experience of chosen subject as a student | 47.5 (141) | 49.7 (1187) | 46.1 (3336) | 36.9(1296) |
| †A particular teacher/department | 28.5 (84) | 38.3 (914) | 29.6 (2135) | 13.4(469) |
| Inclinations before medical school | 11.1 (33) | 16.8 (401) | 13.7 (992) | 14.8 (519) |
| Experience of jobs so far | 33.4 (99) | 62.1(1483) | 50.8(3678) | 48.4(1703) |
| Enthusiasm/commitment: what I really want to do | 69.5 (205) | 75.1 (1789) | 65.0 (4661) | 59.2 (2070) |
| Year Three | ||||
| Domestic circumstances | 20.6 (26) | 10.5 (103) | 17.6 (718) | 48.8(1073) |
| Hours/working conditions | 66.4 (85) | 23.0(226) | 39.5(1619) | 81.7(1815) |
| Future financial prospects | 25.2 (32) | 19.6 (193) | 8.9(364) | 22.7 (502) |
| Career & promotion prospects | 16.5 (21) | 26.4 (260) | 24.4 (998) | 22.8 (502) |
| Self-appraisal of own skills/aptitudes | 47.7 (61) | 48.2 (471) | 51.9 (2121) | 50.0 (1102) |
| Advice from others | 24.6 (31) | 17.9 (175) | 16.5 (671) | 16.6 (366) |
| Experience of chosen subject as a student | 40.6 (52) | 29.0 (286) | 26.3(1076) | 20.8(459) |
| †A particular teacher/department | 25.0 (21) | 38.7 (244) | 30.3 (797) | 11.1(159) |
| Inclinations before medical school | 19.5 (25) | 14.9 (146) | 12.2 (501) | 14.8 (327) |
| Experience of jobs so far | 48.0 (61) | 74.4(733) | 68.5(2806) | 54.2 (1198) |
| Enthusiasm/commitment: what I really want to do | 78.4 (98) | 71.5 (702) | 65.3 (2663) | 56.5(1245) |
| Year Five | ||||
| Domestic circumstances | 37.8 (65) | 18.5(215) | 29.5 (1562) | 64.4(2153) |
| Hours/working conditions | 70.5 (122) | 24.9(290) | 45.9(2432) | 85.4(2858) |
| Future financial prospects | 21.4 (37) | 17.1 (200) | 8.1(432) | 17.3 (580) |
| Career & promotion prospects | 20.8 (36) | 27.1 (316) | 25.0 (1330) | 19.8 (664) |
| Self-appraisal of own skills/aptitudes | 51.5 (88) | 57.4 (671) | 57.2 (3045) | 51.3 (1719) |
| Advice from others | 20.3 (35) | 17.4 (203) | 14.2 (754) | 10.7(359) |
| Experience of chosen subject as a student | 30.2 (52) | 26.2 (307) | 22.1 (1175) | 17.1(573) |
| †A particular teacher/department | 12.8 (11) | 37.2(241) | 24.8 (664) | 5.2 (89) |
| Inclinations before medical school | 8.7 (15) | 12.2 (143) | 9.9 (529) | 12.6 (423) |
| Experience of jobs so far | 52.3 (90) | 76.3(893) | 68.2(3635) | 52.1 (1749) |
| Enthusiasm/commitment: what I really want to do | 79.8 (138) | 84.0 (983) | 75.0 (3992) | 59.9(2013) |
| ††Financial circumstances whilst training | 2.0 (1) | 5.2 (14) | 5.0 (72) | 7.3 (62) |
| ††Organisation of training programme | 16.0 (8) | 22.3 (60) | 29.9 (428) | 27.2 (232) |
| ††Inability to secure qualifications | 6.3 (3) | 1.5 (4) | 2.1 (29) | 2.5 (21) |
Year One uses data from the 1993, 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2002 cohorts, Year Three from the 1993, 1996 and 2002 cohorts, and Year Five from the 1993, 1996, 1999 and 2000 cohorts.
†This statement was not presented to graduates of 1996 in their third year after graduating, or the graduates of 1993 and 1996 in their fifth year after graduating.
†† These three statements were only presented to the 1993 graduates in their fifth year after graduating.
Excluding these statements, the smallest number of respondents to any statement in Years One, Three and Five respectively was for those choosing ophthalmology 295, 126 and 171, for other surgical specialties 2366, 978 and 1165, for other specialties excluding GP 7167, 4068 and 5287 and for GP 3495, 2199 and 3343.
In each row, where percentages for the three specialty choices other than ophthalmology differ significantly from the corresponding percentage for ophthalmology, a bold underlined percentage indicates p < 0.001 and bold alone indicates p < 0.01.