Table 3.

Career opportunities, prospects and commitment to the NHS: percentages according to timing of decision to become a GP

All responders	Timing of decision to choose GP				Comparing 4 groups	Comparing earliest choosers (<Y1) vs latest (≥Y5)	All
	<Y1	Y1 to 3	Y3 to 5	≥Y5	P-value (χ2 testa3)	P-value (χ2 testa1)
I have had good career opportunities in my career to date (% agreement)	80.2	75.4	80.1	70.9	0.002	<0.001	77.4
I am satisfied with my future career prospects (% agreement)	69.9	70.1	69.9	66.9	0.73	0.170	69.3
Do you feel committed to a long-term career in the NHS?
% Yes	85.7	81.3	79.9	73.1	<0.001	<0.001	81.2
% Undecided	8.5	10.7	13.1	16.2
% No	5.8	8.1	7.0	10.7
Males
I have had good career opportunities in my career to date (% agreement)	82.8	80.5	80.6	71.7	0.06	0.007	79.4
I am satisfied with my future career prospects (% agreement)	70.3	75.6	68.1	63.8	0.20	0.110	69.3
Do you feel committed to a long-term career in the NHS?
% Yes	80.6	75.9	78.4	74.8	0.67	0.160	78.0
% Undecided	10.9	13.9	14.7	14.0
% No	8.6	10.1	6.9	11.2
Females
I have had good career opportunities in my career to date (% agreement)	79.0	72.8	79.8	70.3	0.02	0.007	76.4
I am satisfied with my future career prospects (% agreement)	69.7	67.4	71.0	69.0	0.85	0.460	69.4
Do you feel committed to a long-term career in the NHS?
% Yes	87.6	83.4	80.7	72.3	<0.001	<0.001	82.6
% Undecided	7.6	9.3	12.3	17.3
% No	4.8	7.3	7.1	10.4

^aDegrees of freedom for the test (4 groups = 3 df, 2 groups = 1 df).