Figure 1.

UK Doctors who specified surgical specialties as their first choice of eventual career*. Footnotes: Percentages (with 95% confidence intervals) in each year after graduation, first choices for surgery including tied first choices, showing (a to c) percentages of all respondents, and (d to f) percentages of all respondents excluding those who specified general practice as their first choice. Figures 1a-1c: Numbers of respondents: 14 345 (men), 13 404 (women), 27 749 (total) in Year One; 12 420 (men), 11 048 (women), 23 468 (total) in Year Three; 9 561(men), 8 128 (women), 17 689 (total) in Year Five. Chi square tests (χ²₁) comparing first choice for surgical specialties made by men and women (all graduation years combined): Year One 1293.7; Year Three 919.7; Year Five 658.5; all years P <0.001. Figures 1d-1f: Numbers of respondents excluding those with first choices for GP: 10 567 (men), 8 331 (women), 18 898 (total) in Year One; 8 569 (men), 6 441 (women), 15 010 (total) in Year Three; 6 307 (men), 4 557 (women), 10 864 (total) in Year Five. Chi square tests (χ²₁) comparing first choice for surgical specialties made by men and women (all graduation years combined) excluding GP: Year One 968.5; Year Three 706.8; Year Five 523.6; all years P <0.001.