GENERAL-PRACTITIONER REGISTRARS VIEWS ABOUT A CAREER IN GENERAL-PRACTICE

Background. Current low morale in general practice and the fall in the number of general practitioner registrars (trainees) has led to conce rn about the decline in popularity of general practice as a career. Ai m. A study was performed to evaluate the career intentions of general practitioner registrars and the factors underlying their decisions. Me thod. An anonymous postal questionnaire seeking both quantitative and qualitative data was sent to 138 registrars during June 1993. All were registrars at practices in the south west region of England. Outcome measures used were the popularity of different types of general practi ce work and identification of variables and emergent themes considered important in career choice. Results. A fetal of 101 registrars return ed questionnaires (73%). Of the respondents, 96% expressed an interest in general practice as a career. However, registrars expressed consid erable uncertainty about the future of general practice and therefore their career, Continuity of care and a holistic approach were consider ed valued aspects of work in general practice. Increased workload, inc reased out-of-hours work and erosion of professional autonomy emerged as negative aspects of a career in general practice. Of the respondent s, 91% considered time for leisure activities an important factor when considering future career, 72% would have been glad to do away with 2 4-hour cover and 99% agreed that general practitioners increasingly fe ar litigation. Conclusion. Although registrars were interested in gene ral practice as a career they had many concerns and expressed uncertai nties. The future popularity of general practice is likely to depend o n addressing these concerns and on the clarification of the future dir ection of the profession.