Table 3.
Percentages of doctors who specified each factor as influencing their choice of long-term career a great deal: graduates of 1993, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2008 and 2009a
| Year 1 |
Year 3 |
Year 5 |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Factor | Psychiatry (n = 869) |
General practice (n = 5615) |
Otherb (n = 12 829) |
Psychiatry (n = 655) |
General practice (n = 4020) |
Otherb (n = 8265) |
Psychiatry (n = 651) |
General practice (n = 4422) |
Otherb (n = 7448) |
| Domestic circumstances |
26.4c |
49.0*** |
15.5*** |
24.1 |
48.7*** |
15.3*** |
36.5 |
68.5*** |
26.9*** |
| Hours/working conditions |
58.5c |
75.1*** |
28.6*** |
58.1 |
81.5*** |
33.9*** |
64.6 |
87.7*** |
39.4*** |
| Eventual financial prospects |
9.4 |
14.9*** |
11.9 |
9.2 |
22.8*** |
11.2 |
6.0c |
17.7*** |
9.7 |
| Promotion/career prospects |
28.9c |
16.2*** |
23.9 |
28.0 |
22.8 |
24.5 |
27.0 |
20.6*** |
25.1 |
| Self-appraisal of own skills |
63.8 |
47.7*** |
49.5*** |
67.1 |
49.8*** |
50.0*** |
71.5 |
52.6*** |
58.3*** |
| Advice from others |
10.7 |
15.5 |
17.0*** |
12.4 |
16.6 |
17.6 |
9.5 |
11.5 |
15.4*** |
| Student experience of subject |
58.7 |
38.3*** |
48.1*** |
36.7 |
20.8*** |
27.0*** |
36.1 |
19.8*** |
24.4*** |
| Particular teacher/department |
23.3 |
13.3*** |
32.7*** |
15.9 |
11.5 |
33.3*** |
14.4 |
6.0*** |
30.4*** |
| Inclinations before medical school |
22.4 |
15.1*** |
13.7*** |
18.3 |
14.8 |
12.1 |
17.0 |
13.0 |
9.5*** |
| Experience of jobs so far |
37.5 |
47.1*** |
54.5*** |
71.3c |
54.0*** |
69.7 |
69.2c |
53.2*** |
72.2 |
| Enthusiasm/commitment: what I really want to do | 75.7 | 63.5*** | 73.0 | 67.4 | 56.5*** | 67.2 | 78.9 | 63.2*** | 80.5 |
a.
The numbers for this table are provided in online Table DS4.
b.
Other hospital specialties (i.e. all hospital specialties other than psychiatry).
c.
Significant difference between men and women within the group that chose psychiatry.
***
P<0.001 when compared with psychiatry.