Medical graduates ‘not prepared’ for NHS work

Medical school does not prepare doctors for the reality of working in the NHS, a survey by the British Medical Association (BMA) has claimed.

The survey, published at the BMA’s annual conference, tracked 543 doctors who qualified in 1995 for ten years.

In the final annual study, the doctors were asked how their working lives compared with what they had expected when they graduated. Of the 486 who responded, 60% said that the reality had not matched their expectations, citing poor quality of life, greater stress, long hours, lack of autonomy and government targets as the reasons.

Some doctors described themselves as being “very idealistic” at medical school and said they were “unprepared” for life as a doctor.

However, some doctors reported finding their working life to be more flexible than they expected and said they had been able to successfully balance their work and family commitments.

Others said that they had found “satisfying careers” as GPs and urged students to gain more experience of general practice at an earlier stage of their careers.

The BMA report found that the proportion of doctors planning to become GPs had doubled since graduation, from 18% in 1995 to 35% in 2004. However, in contrast, the proportion of doctors planning to become surgeons as halved.

The report also found that women are nearly twice as likely as men to want to become GPs, but were not likely to enter speciality areas, such as surgery and anaesthetics.

Commenting on the results, Simon Eccles, chair of the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee, said: “I’m dismayed that so many medical students are entering the profession without feeling properly prepared. Medical schools should listen to this strong message from doctors who are coming to the end of their training and act accordingly.”

However, Mr Eccles said he was “delighted” that so many GPs seemed to be happy in their careers and said that the current shake-up of doctors’ training would give students more exposure to general practice.

The BMA’s report has also called for measures to ensure that medical education prepares doctors fully for their career. A mentoring scheme, which could be introduced at medical school and followed throughout a doctors career, was also suggested.

(KMcA/SP)