Table 6

Percentages of doctors whose first choice of long-term career was for ophthalmology and other careers, who specified each factor as influencing their choice of long-term career a great deal: graduates of 1993–2002


First choice of long-term career


Factor influencing career choice 'a great deal'
Ophthal mology
Other surgery
Other careers excluding GP
GP






% (n)
% (n)
% (n)
% (n)
     Year One




Domestic circumstances
15.5 (46)
7.9(189)
13.7 (986)
37.7(1319)
Hours/working conditions
60.7 (181)
17.4(414)
35.2(2546)
73.7(2597)
Future financial prospects
29.4 (87)
19.0(453)
10.1(728)
15.7(552)
Career & promotion prospects
28.6 (85)
26.8 (639)
25.0 (1803)
16.5(580)
Self-appraisal of own skills/aptitudes
42.1 (125)
50.9 (1212)
49.7 (3582)
46.3 (1625)
Advice from others
29.4 (87)
16.2(383)
16.6(1199)
16.3(570)
Experience of chosen subject as a student
47.5 (141)
49.7 (1187)
46.1 (3336)
36.9(1296)
A particular teacher/department
28.5 (84)
38.3 (914)
29.6 (2135)
13.4(469)
Inclinations before medical school
11.1 (33)
16.8 (401)
13.7 (992)
14.8 (519)
Experience of jobs so far
33.4 (99)
62.1(1483)
50.8(3678)
48.4(1703)
Enthusiasm/commitment: what I really want to do
69.5 (205)
75.1 (1789)
65.0 (4661)
59.2 (2070)





     Year Three




Domestic circumstances
20.6 (26)
10.5 (103)
17.6 (718)
48.8(1073)
Hours/working conditions
66.4 (85)
23.0(226)
39.5(1619)
81.7(1815)
Future financial prospects
25.2 (32)
19.6 (193)
8.9(364)
22.7 (502)
Career & promotion prospects
16.5 (21)
26.4 (260)
24.4 (998)
22.8 (502)
Self-appraisal of own skills/aptitudes
47.7 (61)
48.2 (471)
51.9 (2121)
50.0 (1102)
Advice from others
24.6 (31)
17.9 (175)
16.5 (671)
16.6 (366)
Experience of chosen subject as a student
40.6 (52)
29.0 (286)
26.3(1076)
20.8(459)
A particular teacher/department
25.0 (21)
38.7 (244)
30.3 (797)
11.1(159)
Inclinations before medical school
19.5 (25)
14.9 (146)
12.2 (501)
14.8 (327)
Experience of jobs so far
48.0 (61)
74.4(733)
68.5(2806)
54.2 (1198)
Enthusiasm/commitment: what I really want to do
78.4 (98)
71.5 (702)
65.3 (2663)
56.5(1245)





     Year Five




Domestic circumstances
37.8 (65)
18.5(215)
29.5 (1562)
64.4(2153)
Hours/working conditions
70.5 (122)
24.9(290)
45.9(2432)
85.4(2858)
Future financial prospects
21.4 (37)
17.1 (200)
8.1(432)
17.3 (580)
Career & promotion prospects
20.8 (36)
27.1 (316)
25.0 (1330)
19.8 (664)
Self-appraisal of own skills/aptitudes
51.5 (88)
57.4 (671)
57.2 (3045)
51.3 (1719)
Advice from others
20.3 (35)
17.4 (203)
14.2 (754)
10.7(359)
Experience of chosen subject as a student
30.2 (52)
26.2 (307)
22.1 (1175)
17.1(573)
A particular teacher/department
12.8 (11)
37.2(241)
24.8 (664)
5.2 (89)
Inclinations before medical school
8.7 (15)
12.2 (143)
9.9 (529)
12.6 (423)
Experience of jobs so far
52.3 (90)
76.3(893)
68.2(3635)
52.1 (1749)
Enthusiasm/commitment: what I really want to do
79.8 (138)
84.0 (983)
75.0 (3992)
59.9(2013)
††Financial circumstances whilst training
2.0 (1)
5.2 (14)
5.0 (72)
7.3 (62)
††Organisation of training programme
16.0 (8)
22.3 (60)
29.9 (428)
27.2 (232)
††Inability to secure qualifications
6.3 (3)
1.5 (4)
2.1 (29)
2.5 (21)

Year One uses data from the 1993, 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2002 cohorts, Year Three from the 1993, 1996 and 2002 cohorts, and Year Five from the 1993, 1996, 1999 and 2000 cohorts.

This statement was not presented to graduates of 1996 in their third year after graduating, or the graduates of 1993 and 1996 in their fifth year after graduating.

†† These three statements were only presented to the 1993 graduates in their fifth year after graduating.

Excluding these statements, the smallest number of respondents to any statement in Years One, Three and Five respectively was for those choosing ophthalmology 295, 126 and 171, for other surgical specialties 2366, 978 and 1165, for other specialties excluding GP 7167, 4068 and 5287 and for GP 3495, 2199 and 3343.

In each row, where percentages for the three specialty choices other than ophthalmology differ significantly from the corresponding percentage for ophthalmology, a bold underlined percentage indicates p < 0.001 and bold alone indicates p < 0.01.

Lambert et al. BMC Ophthalmology 2008 8:3   doi:10.1186/1471-2415-8-3