scholarly journals Adverse effects on health and wellbeing of working as a doctor: views of the UK medical graduates of 1974 and 1977 surveyed in 2014

2017 ◽  
Vol 110 (5) ◽  
pp. 198-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fay Smith ◽  
Michael J Goldacre ◽  
Trevor W Lambert
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Medical Workforce ◽  
Health Service Provision ◽  
Women Doctors ◽  
Medical Graduates ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Need Support ◽  
Hospital Doctors ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Stress Work

Summary Objective To report on any adverse effects on health and wellbeing of working as a doctor, as described by senior doctors. Design Questionnaires sent in 2014 to all medical graduates of 1974 and 1977. Participants 3695 UK medical graduates. Setting United Kingdom. Main outcome measures Statements about adverse effects upon health, wellbeing and career. Results The aggregated response rate from contactable doctors was 84.6% (3695/4369). In response to the question ‘Do you feel that working as a doctor has had any adverse effects on your own health or wellbeing?’, 44% of doctors answered ‘yes’. More GPs (47%) than hospital doctors (42%) specified that this was the case. Three-quarters of doctors who answered ‘yes’ cited ‘stress/work–life balance/workload’ as an adverse effect, and 45% mentioned illness. In response to the statement ‘The NHS of today is a good employer when doctors become ill themselves’, 28% of doctors agreed, 29% neither agreed nor disagreed and 43% disagreed. More women doctors (49%) than men doctors (40%) disagreed with this statement. More general practitioners (49%) disagreed than hospital doctors (37%). Conclusions Chronic stress and illness, which these doctors attributed to their work, were widely reported. Although recent changes may have alleviated some of these issues, there are lessons for the present and future if the NHS is to ensure that its medical workforce receives the support which enables current doctors to enjoy a full and satisfying career and to contribute fully to health service provision in the UK. Older doctors, in particular, need support to be able to continue successfully in their careers.

scholarly journals Choice and rejection of psychiatry as a career: surveys of UK medical graduates from 1974 to 2009

2013 ◽  
Vol 202 (3) ◽  
pp. 228-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Goldacre ◽  
Seena Fazel ◽  
Fay Smith ◽  
Trevor Lambert
Keyword(s):  
Medical School ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Junior Doctors ◽  
Women Doctors ◽  
Medical Graduates ◽  
First Choice ◽  
Relative Attractiveness ◽  
Questionnaire Studies ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Job Content

BackgroundRecruitment of adequate numbers of doctors to psychiatry is difficult.AimsTo report on career choice for psychiatry, comparing intending psychiatrists with doctors who chose other clinical careers.MethodQuestionnaire studies of all newly qualified doctors from all UK medical schools in 12 qualification years between 1974 and 2009 (33 974 respondent doctors).ResultsOne, three and five years after graduation, 4–5% of doctors specified psychiatry as their first choice of future career. This was largely unchanged across the 35 years. Comparing intending psychiatrists with doctors who chose other careers, factors with a greater influence on psychiatrists' choice included their experience of the subject at medical school, self-appraisal of their own skills, and inclinations before medical school. In a substudy of doctors who initially considered but then did not pursue specialty choices, 72% of those who did not pursue psychiatry gave ‘job content’ as their reason compared with 33% of doctors who considered but did not pursue other specialties. Historically, more women than men have chosen psychiatry, but the gap has closed over the past decade.ConclusionsJunior doctors' views about psychiatry as a possible career range from high levels of enthusiasm to antipathy, and are more polarised than views about other specialties. Shortening of working hours and improvements to working practices in other hospital-based specialties in the UK may have reduced the relative attractiveness of psychiatry to women doctors. The extent to which views of newly qualified doctors about psychiatry can be modified by medical school education, and by greater exposure to psychiatry during student and early postgraduate years, needs investigation.

scholarly journals International medical graduates: how can UK psychiatry do better?

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Emmeline Lagunes-Cordoba ◽  
Raka Maitra ◽  
Subodh Dave ◽  
Shevonne Matheiken ◽  
Femi Oyebode ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
National Health Service ◽  
Health Service ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Well Being ◽  
International Medical ◽  
International Medical Graduates ◽  
Universal Healthcare ◽  
Medical Graduates ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Uk

Summary The National Health Service (NHS) was created 70 years ago to provide universal healthcare to the UK, and over the years it has relied upon international medical graduates (IMGs) to be able to meet its needs. Despite the benefits these professionals bring to the NHS, they often face barriers that hinder their well-being and performance. In this editorial, we discuss some of the most common challenges and the adverse effects these have on IMGs’ lives and careers. However, we also propose practical measures to improve IMGs’ experiences of working in psychiatry.

Improving the experience of hospital doctors who are not in training programmes

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (12) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Jawad Azhar ◽  
Peter Thomas ◽  
Karen McCarthy ◽  
Tanzeem Raza ◽  
Michael Vassallo
Keyword(s):  
Work Experience ◽  
Organisational Culture ◽  
Strong Correlations ◽  
Medical Workforce ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Hospital Doctors ◽  
Training Programmes ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Positive Work

Background/Aims Doctors in non-consultant, non-training (NCNT) trust grade posts are an important part of the medical workforce across the UK, but their needs are often neglected. It is important to explore their work-related experience to support their welfare. This study aimed to explore the issues that were most important to the positive work experience of this group of doctors. Method Work-related themes were identified through meetings with NCNT trust grade doctors. A questionnaire was then compiled asking such doctors to rate statements based on these themes using a 5-point Likert scale. Correlations between scores on these statements and the scores on the key statement ‘I will recommend coming to this hospital for training to my friends’ were explored. Results The questionnaire was completed by 25 doctors. Statements reflecting organisational culture, such as ‘I never felt bullied’ (r=0.698) or ‘I feel well supported in my work’ (r=0.796) demonstrated strong correlations with whether respondents would recommend the trust to a friend, while process-based statements, such as ‘I have been allocated a clinical supervisor’ (r=0.12), did not. Conclusions Focusing on the needs and opinions of NCNT trust grade doctors is important to support recruitment and retention. When evaluating the impact of processes on job satisfaction for this group, it may be more useful to focus on the outcomes of the processes and the general organisational culture, rather than simply checking off whether the processes exist.

scholarly journals Combining parenthood with a medical career: questionnaire survey of the UK medical graduates of 2002 covering some influences and experiences

BMJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. e016822 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor W Lambert ◽  
Fay Smith ◽  
Michael J Goldacre
Keyword(s):  
General Practitioners ◽  
Response Rate ◽  
Specialty Choice ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
Medical Graduates ◽  
Family Friendly ◽  
Hospital Doctors ◽  
Medical Career ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

ObjectivesTo report the self-assessed views of a cohort of medical graduates about the impact of having (or wanting to have) children on their specialty choice and the extent to which their employer was supportive of doctors with children.SettingUnited Kingdom (UK).ParticipantsUK medical graduates of 2002 surveyed by post and email in 2014.ResultsThe response rate was 64.2% (2057/3205). Most respondents were living with a spouse or partner (86%) and, of these, 49% had a medical spouse. Having children, or wanting to have children, had influenced specialty choice for 47% of respondents; for 56% of doctors with children and 29% of doctors without children; for 59% of women and 28% of men; and for 78% of general practitioners compared with 27% of hospital doctors and 18% of surgeons. 42% of respondents regarded the National Health Service as a family-friendly employer, and 64% regarded their specialty as family-friendly. More general practitioners (78%) than doctors in hospital specialties (56%) regarded their specialty as family-friendly, while only 32% of surgeons did so.Of those who had taken maternity/paternity/adoption leave, 49% rated the level of support they had received in doing so asexcellent/good, 32% said it wasacceptableand 18% said the support had beenpoor/very poor.ConclusionsHaving children is a major influence when considering specialty choice for many doctors, especially women and general practitioners. Surgeons are least influenced in their career choice by the prospect of parenthood. Almost half of doctors in hospital specialties regard their specialty as family-friendly.

scholarly journals Supporting International Medical Graduates in the NHS

The Physician ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Bogle ◽  
Tunji Lasoye ◽  
Simon Winn ◽  
Caroline Ebdon ◽  
Dilip Shah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
International Medical ◽  
International Medical Graduates ◽  
Orientation Programs ◽  
Highly Qualified ◽  
Medical Workforce ◽  
Orientation Program ◽  
Medical Graduates ◽  
King's College ◽  
College Orientation ◽  
The Uk

International Medical Graduates represent a significant part of the UK medical workforce. Often highly qualified in their home countries, they arrive in the NHS without the experience of either system or culture. Their chance of success is determined by the orientation program and governance structures are in place to support them. In this report, we describe two structures we designed independently to support IMGs from recruitment through to their transition into working in the NHS. We describe the Epsom St Helier Academy and King’s College Orientation Programs in the pre-COVID and COVID19 era.  Our programs offer a blueprint for other healthcare organisations looking to improve the integration and experience of IMGs in the NHS. Peer reviewed by Simon Gregory & Vijay Nayar

The political background to arts in health

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daisy Fancourt
Keyword(s):  
National Policy ◽  
Health Departments ◽  
Arts Funding ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Policy And Strategy ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Political Background ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Arts In Health

In recent decades, there has been an increasing number of national policy and strategy papers discussing arts in health in countries around the world. Some of this activity has been driven by national arts bodies, championing the value of the arts in health and wellbeing and advocating for their inclusion within core arts funding and practice. Other activity has been led by health bodies, including health departments within governments and health services themselves. This chapter explores some of the most influential documents and considers their implication for research and practice. It draws on case studies of activity within Ireland, the UK, the USA, Australia, and Nordic countries.

The IMF, the UK Policy Debate, and Debt and Deficit Discourse

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben Clift
Keyword(s):  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Fiscal Consolidation ◽  
Policy Space ◽  
Fiscal Multipliers ◽  
Scientific Image ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Deep Recession ◽  
The Imf

This chapter charts changing character of the economic ideas informing fiscal policymaking in Britain, and Fund responses to them. Drawing on interviews with the Fund’s UK Missions and UK authorities, it shows how, despite the IMF’s prizing of its non-political, scientific image, its differing views of UK policy space and prioritization became the stuff of a contested politics. The central assumption of the coalition government’s construction of fiscal rectitude was that Britain faced a ‘crisis of debt’, yet the IMF did not share this view. Fund work on fiscal multipliers being higher during recessions, and the adverse effects of fiscal consolidation on growth, all had pointed relevance for UK policy. The coalition government saw little potential for activist fiscal policy in support of growth. In 2013 Blanchard accused the UK authorities of ‘playing with fire’ by pursuing excessively harsh austerity which threatened a prolonged and deep recession.

scholarly journals Questionnaire survey assessing the leisure-time physical activity of hospital doctors and awareness of UK physical activity recommendations

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. e000534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer A Cuthill ◽  
Martin Shaw
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Leisure Time Physical Activity ◽  
Teaching Hospitals ◽  
Muscle Strengthening ◽  
Scottish Population ◽  
Physical Activity Recommendations ◽  
Hospital Doctors ◽  
Type Of Exercise ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Activity Recommendations

ObjectiveThe UK Government Physical Activity Recommendations suggest that adults should aim for 150 min of physical activity each week to maintain health. We assessed the total volume, frequency, intensity and type of exercise taken by hospital doctors in association with their specialty, age and knowledge of the specific components of the recommendations.MethodsAn anonymous paper-based questionnaire was distributed to doctors working in the two largest teaching hospitals in Glasgow. 332 questionnaires were analysed with a response rate of 60.3%.Results239 (72%) doctors felt they exercised regularly with 212 (63.9%) meeting the recommended volume of cardiovascular activity, similar to an age and sex-matched cohort of the general Scottish population. Only 78 (23.5%) doctors achieved the recommended muscle-strengthening activities. 108 (35.5%) doctors were aware recommendations for activity existed but only 45 (13.6%) were able to state the recommended duration of activity per week. Doctors who were aware of the recommendations were more likely to personally achieve them (OR 1.802, 95% CI 1.104 to 2.941) although other additional factors may contribute.ConclusionAlthough this was a small study in two hospitals, our results suggest that hospital doctors are as active as the general public in the UK of a similar age. Eight years after implementation, knowledge of specific components of the current physical activity recommendations remains poor. Efforts to improve this prior to graduation, combined with improving confidence and competence in counselling practices and enhancing the opportunities for doctors to exercise, could translate into improved healthcare promotion.

scholarly journals The Quiet Project – UK Acoustic Community’s response to COVID19 during the easing of lockdown

Noise Mapping ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Dance ◽  
Lindsay McIntyre
Keyword(s):  
Future Research ◽  
Publicly Funded ◽  
Private Companies ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Baseline Noise ◽  
Acoustic Community ◽  
Noise Data ◽  
Public Organisations ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Time Critical

Abstract The COVID-19 lockdown created a new kind of environment both in the UK and globally, never experienced before or likely to occur again. A vital and time-critical working group was formed with the aim of gathering crowd-source high quality baseline noise levels and other supporting information across the UK during the lock-down and subsequent periods. The acoustic community were mobilised through existing networks engaging private companies, public organisations and academics to gather data in accessible places. In addition, pre-existing on-going measurements from major infrastructure projects, airport, and planning applications were gathered to create the largest possible databank. A website was designed and developed to advertise the project, provide instructions and to formalise the uploading of noise data, observations and soundscape feedback. Two case studies gathered in the latter stage of full lockdown are presented in the paper to illustrate the changes in the environmental noise conditions relative to transport activity. Ultimately the databank will be used to establish the relation to other impacts such as air quality, air traffic, economic, and health and wellbeing. As publicly funded research the databank will be made publicly available to assist future research.

scholarly journals Junior hospital doctors' views on their training in the UK.

1996 ◽  
Vol 72 (851) ◽  
pp. 547-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. N. Panayiotou ◽  
M. D. Fotherby
Keyword(s):  
Hospital Doctors ◽  
The Uk
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