Fewer medical graduates are choosing general practice: a comparison of four cohorts, 1980–1995

Abstract

To compare general practice career choices of four cohorts of medical graduates. Retrospective longitudinal study of medical graduates. Data on employment since graduation, nature of current employment, and postgraduate qualifications were collected by postal survey in 2003. Four cohorts of Monash University Medical School graduates who completed their degrees in 1980, 1985, 1990 and 1995 (n = 386). Proportion of each cohort pursuing a general practice career. At 8 years after graduation, half of the graduates in the 1980 and 1985 cohorts were working in general practice, compared with 38% of 1990 graduates and 33% of 1995 graduates. Differences were mainly attributable to fewer female graduates working as GPs: female GPs comprised 62% of the 1980 cohort compared with 31% of the 1995 cohort. Graduates in more recent cohorts also entered the general practice workforce at a later stage than those in earlier cohorts. A rapidly declining proportion of new graduates from Monash University Medical School, particularly female graduates, are choosing general practice as a career. This will exacerbate future shortages in the general practice workforce.