UK Medical Careers Research Group, Unit of Health-Care Epidemiology, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus, Oxford, OX3 7LF, UK.
BMC Med Educ. 2019 Jul 10;19(1):257. doi: 10.1186/s12909-019-1650-7.
The rapidly rising rates of brain diseases due to the growing ageing population and the explosion in treatment options for many neurological conditions increase the demand for neurologists. We report trends in doctors' career choices for neurology; investigate factors driving their choices; and compare doctors' original choices with their specialty destinations.
A multi-cohort, multi-purpose nation-wide study using both online and postal questionnaires collected data on career choice, influencing factors, and career destinations. UK-trained doctors completed questionnaires at one, three, five, and ten years after qualification. They were classified into three groups: graduates of 1974-1983, graduates of 1993-2002, and graduates of 2005-2015.
Neurology was more popular among graduates of 2005-2015 than earlier graduates; however, its attraction for graduates of 2005-2015 doctors reduced over time from graduation. A higher percentage of men than women doctors chose neurology as their first career choice. For instance, among graduates of 2005-2015, 2.2% of men and 1.1% of women preferred neurology as first choice in year 1. The most influential factor on career choice was "enthusiasm for and commitment to the specialty" in all cohorts and all years after graduation. Only 39% who chose neurology in year 1 progressed to become neurologists later. Conversely, only 28% of practicing neurologists in our study had decided to become neurologists in their first year after qualification. By year 3 this figure had risen to 65%, and by year 5 to 76%.
Career decision-making among UK medical graduates is complicated. Early choices for neurology were not highly predictive of career destinations. Some influential factors in this process were identified. Improving mentoring programmes to support medical graduates, provide career counselling, develop professionalism, and increase their interest in neurology were suggested.
由于人口老龄化的快速增长和许多神经疾病治疗选择的爆炸式增长，导致脑部疾病的发病率迅速上升，从而增加了对神经科医生的需求。我们报告了医生选择神经科职业的趋势；调查了驱动这些选择的因素；并比较了医生最初的选择和他们的专业目的地。
一项多队列、多用途的全国性研究使用在线和邮寄问卷收集了职业选择、影响因素和职业目的地的数据。英国培训的医生在资格后一年、三年、五年和十年完成问卷。他们分为三组：1974-1983 年毕业的毕业生、1993-2002 年毕业的毕业生和 2005-2015 年毕业的毕业生。
2005-2015 年毕业的医生比早期毕业的医生更倾向于选择神经病学；然而，从毕业开始，2005-2015 年毕业的医生对神经病学的吸引力随着时间的推移而降低。选择神经病学作为第一职业的男性医生比例高于女性医生。例如，在 2005-2015 年毕业的医生中，有 2.2%的男性和 1.1%的女性在第一年选择神经病学作为第一选择。在所有队列和毕业后的所有年份，对专业的热情和承诺是职业选择的最具影响力的因素。在第一年选择神经病学的人中，只有 39%后来成为神经科医生。相反，在我们的研究中，只有 28%的执业神经科医生在他们获得资格后的第一年就决定成为神经科医生。到第 3 年，这一数字上升到 65%，到第 5 年上升到 76%。
英国医学毕业生的职业决策很复杂。早期选择神经病学并不能高度预测职业去向。确定了这个过程中的一些影响因素。建议改善指导计划，以支持医学毕业生，提供职业咨询，发展专业精神，提高他们对神经病学的兴趣。
