[Wishes of residents in internal medicine with relation to working week, part-time work, career length and practice pattern].

To investigate the wishes and ideas about length of working week, part-time work, length of career and future kind of establishment, a questionnaire was sent to all Dutch registrars of internal medicine. In the opinion of more than 70 percent of the registrars, the length of a full-time working week of an internist should be less than 50 hours. Of all registrars (62% men and 38% women), 68% would decide in favour of part-time work if the length of a full-time working week of an internist were to remain at about 68 hours (common length of a working week of Dutch internists nowadays). 33% would still like to work part-time when the length of a full-time working week became as they desired (about 47 hours). The preferred length of their career was for most registrars less than 30 years. The majority preferred a tenure to a position in a partnership. In conclusion, the wishes about the future of the registrars of internal medicine differ markedly from the current situation.