Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Jan 25, 2023
Open Peer Review Period: Jan 25, 2023 - Mar 22, 2023
Date Accepted: May 25, 2023
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Ascertaining the career Intentions of UK Medical Students (AIMS) post-graduation: study protocol
ABSTRACT
Background:
Among doctors in the United Kingdom, there is growing sentiment regarding delaying specialist training, emigrating to practice medicine abroad, or leaving the profession altogether. This may have significant implications for the future of the profession in the UK. The extent to which this sentiment is also present in the medical student population is unknown.
Objective:
Our primary outcome is to determine current medical students’ career intentions after graduation and upon completing the Foundation Programme, and to establish the motivations behind these intentions. Secondary outcomes include determining which, if any, demographic factors alter the propensity to pursue different career paths available to a medical graduate, determining which specialties medical students plan on pursuing and understanding current views on the prospect of working in the National Health Service (NHS).
Methods:
The AIMS study is a national, multi-institution, cross-sectional study of all medical students at all medical schools in the United Kingdom. It will be administered via an online questionnaire and disseminated through a collaborative network recruited for this purpose. Both quantitative analysis and thematic analysis will be used.
Results:
Data collection is currently underway, with the study having launched nationally on the 16th January 2023. Data collection will close on the 27th of March 2023 and data analysis will commence. We expect the results later in the year.
Conclusions:
Doctors’ career satisfaction within the NHS is a well-researched topic, however, there is a shortage of high-powered studies able to offer insight into medical students’ outlook on their future careers. It is anticipated that the results from this study will bring clarity to this issue. Identified areas of improvement in medical training or within the NHS could be targeted to improve doctors' working conditions and help retain medical graduates. Results may also aid future workforce planning efforts. Clinical Trial: Not applicable.
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.