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One in three (32%) medical students plan to leave the NHS within two years of graduation to practise medicine abroad or to leave the profession altogether, a new survey has found.
The survey, which is the largest of its kind, revealed that many of these medical students are planning on leaving to practice in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada.
The key drivers behind the decision are based on better pay offers abroad, better work-life balance and improved conditions.
43% of doctors planning on leaving the UK have no intention of returning
The study included more than 10,400 medical students across 44 universities, totalling a quarter of all the UK’s medical student population.
The respondents’ average age was 22 and around two thirds (66.5%) were women. All students were asked their career intentions after graduation with 84% saying they planned to complete both years of the UK’s foundation training after graduating.
In total, around a third of medical students (32.5%) plan to leave the NHS within 2 years of graduating, either to practise abroad or to pursue other careers.
The survey also found:
- 11% intend to complete year 1 of foundation training and then emigrate to practise medicine;
- 2% plan to emigrate to practise medicine immediately after graduation
- 1% intend to take a break or undertake further study
- 21% plan to enter a ‘non-training’ clinical job in the UK
- 67 planned to leave medicine permanently after completion of year 2 of foundation training.
Of those planning on leaving, around half (49.5%) plan to return to UK medicine after a few years, while nearly 8% intend to return after completion of their medical training abroad. But 42.5% say they have no intention of returning.
Government must bolster retention efforts if doctors are going to continue to practise in the UK
The shortage of doctors in the UK is nothing new; it is a problem the government has long been trying to solve.
The researchers found that the UK has 3.2 doctors for every 1,000 people, representing the lowest number of doctors per head among European countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
To tackle this, various policies have been implemented such as expanding student capacity and opening new medical schools.
However, retention is clearly going to be the biggest problem the government faces, and the British Medical Association says this must now be “prioritised” by the government and plans must be put in place to “address pay restoration, career progression and working conditions.”
Dr Latifa Patel, BMA representative body chair, said: “There have been increasing concerns about doctors, at the start of their careers, deciding to leave the UK and we have seen blatant recruitment campaigns to urge them to do so.
“However, this survey reveals the very real and worrying trend of doctors making the decision, even before they have qualified, to either practise medicine overseas, leave the NHS or leave the profession altogether.
“The Government cannot continue to turn a blind eye to this increasingly untenable situation. This study clearly shows that increasing medical school places alone is not enough to turn the tide on the growing workforce crisis. It is not too late to fix this, but the power to do so rests with the Government.”