Doctors' career choice: previous research and its relevance for policy-making.

During the last 10 years, a good deal of interest has been shown by both researchers and policy-makers in the factors which determine doctors' choice of specialty. In this sense 'specialty' includes not only the hospital specialties but general practice and occupational and community health. This interest has arisen in part from the problems of geographical and inter-specialty maldistribution which have persisted since the inception of the Health Service. As plans for increasing the total numbers of British doctors begin to be put into effect, the attention of medical manpower planners may well be more sharply focused on ways of ensuring that this increased supply is used in the best possible way.