Working and professional position of medical trained at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona

BACKGROUND: TO analyze the working and professional position of medical spe cialists trained at the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona (Spain) during the las t years, and to inquiry about their opinion on both the quality of the trai ning that they received and the ways to improve it. POPULATION AND METHODS: Self-administered questionnaire of closed questions send to 402 specialists that finished their residency at our hospital from 1988 to 1996. RESULTS: 128 completed questionnaires were received and analyzed. The media n age in this sample was 34 years (range, 29,41, and 58% were males. 94% of those polled are engaged in medical practice as specialists, 76% have a fu ll-time job. 55% of the specialists complement this main job with others, m ainly in private practice. The 40% have been sometimes unemployed, and, for half the specialists, more than one year elapsed from the end of residency to the first full-time job, 97% of those polled ranked the quality of the residency training as good, but most of them emphasized the need for more g eneral knowledge and skills, in addition to the specialized training. CONCLUSION: Most medical specialists trained during the last several years have attained what seems to be an stable working and professional position. The scope of the specialists' training programs by must he broaden includi ng more general knowledge and skills.