DOCTORS LEAVING THE TRAINING GRADES IN OBSTETRICS AND GYNECOLOGY - A STUDY OF THE YEARS 1985 TO 1988

Objectives To determine the numbers of doctors leaving the specialty a fter obtaining the Membership of the Royal College of Obstetricians an d Gynaecologists (MRCOG), and the factors influencing their decisions to seek alternative career paths. Design Retrospective postal question naire based survey. Participants One hundred and sixty-eight doctors w ho had passed the MRCOG examination between 1985 and 1988 but were not known to have achieved Consultant or Senior Registrar status in the B ritish Isles by 1993. Results The response rate was 80%. The crude lea ving rate was 31%, although 7.5% had never intended to seek consultant appointment in the specialty in the UK. The majority left shortly aft er obtaining the Part 2 MRCOG examination, 75% within the first two ye ars thereafter. The perception of the lifestyle of a consultant and po or job prospects were commonly seen as the critical factors causing tr ainees of both sexes to leave the specialty, although hours of work wa s the single most commonly cited factor among female trainees. Conclus ions A consistently high rate of loss from the specialty of obstetrics and gynaecology has been demonstrated in surveys covering the period 1978 to 1988. Approximately one-quarter of this loss reflects trainees who had never intended to pursue consultant appointment in the specia lty in the British Isles, half reflects factors which may improve with the implementation of the recommendations contained in the New Deal a nd the 'Calman' report, and one-quarter reflects loss for inevitable r easons. Loss of trainees for these reasons is therefore a crucial elem ent in manpower calculations.