28.11.17
Negative attitudes put majority of medical students off general practice
Over three-quarters of medical students report hearing negative comments about general practice, the RCGP has claimed.
The royal college and the Medical Schools Council’s (MSC’s) report, ‘Destination GP,’ is based on a survey of 3,680 students from 30 medical schools across the UK and builds on previous research indicating that negative attitudes towards general practice make people reconsider joining the field.
The findings also echo those in a report by the MSC and Health Education England published a year ago.
The UK is already suffering from a shortage of GPs, and the royal college is concerned that this attitude towards the specialty could make it even more difficult for the government to achieve its goal of bringing in an additional 5,000 GPs in England by 2020.
The workload of GPs has risen by 16% over the last seven years, with the proportion of NHS spending on general practice falling to levels smaller than a decade ago, and the number of GPs has not risen in line with patient demand.
In fact, figures from NHS Digital revealed that the number of full-time equivalent GPs had dropped slightly in September 2016 compared to the previous year.
This week’s report found that medical students’ choice of specialty seems to be strongly influenced by their peers, lecturers and tutors, and that 91% of those surveyed perceived their peers as having negative associations with general practice.
Over half felt that doctors they had met on placements were negative about the specialty and almost three-quarters perceived negativity from the political environment.
The RCGP and the MSC hope that by highlighting the scale of the problem, more can be done to break down the stigma around general practice and encourage more medical students to enter the field.
Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, chair of the RCGP, warned that these “archaic perceptions” need to change quickly.
“It's so frustrating because being a GP can be the best job in the world when we are given the time and resources to do it properly – it is challenging, intellectually stimulating and full of variety,” she said.
“These are the messages we need to convey. GPs are very important ambassadors for this, and we all have a crucial role to play in influencing the perceptions of medical students, and our peers across medicine.”
The chair added that work is already being done to combat these attitudes, with GP societies in medical schools which help to counter some of the negativity.
“We are consultants in general practice, just like consultants in any other medical specialty and we must all work together, across medicine, to break down any perceived hierarchies that exist,” continued Stokes-Lampard.
“Alongside the joint publication of this report, I’m delighted to acknowledge the commitment of medical schools in seeking to address the issues highlighted, and to MSC for working so constructively with the college.”
Chair of the RCGP Associates in Training Committee, Dr. Sophie Lanaghan, called general practice the “backbone of the NHS” and that the specialty needs the “best and the brightest.”
“I'm saddened that so many students and junior doctors are being put off a career in general practice, as demonstrated in this report, and feel that any narrow-minded views that do exist need to be challenged to combat how this is affecting our profession, and the care we are able to deliver to patients,” she concluded.
Despite the results of this survey, Health Education England (HEE) has today published figures revealing a record number of those entering GP training in NHS history – a total of 3,157, an increase on the previous record by 138.
Professor Ian Cumming, chief executive of HEE, argued that this is great news for the NHS and its patients. However, he added: “But despite what has been another record-breaking year we know that more still needs to be done.
“We will continue to develop initiatives such as our general practice marketing campaign, now in its third year, to help raise awareness of general practice as a career of choice and its unique selling points as a specialty.”
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