Source: Education data tool, General Medical Council
Context: In UK, all medical graduates who wish to practise medicine undertake a 2-year Foundation Programme in the National Health Service (NHS), equivalent to internship in America or housemanship elsewhere. After the 2 years, having achieved full medical registration, they are free to pursue various career options – one of which being specialty training (including GP training).
Except in certain cases, doctors complete Foundation Programme on the first Tuesday of every August, two years after they commenced. Most specialty training programmes run yearly recruitment cycles which commence on the first Wednesday of every August, although some run it every 6 months with an additional February intake.
If a doctor has commenced specialty training within 1 year of completing Foundation (shown in green), this means they would have either started immediately (Aug intake) or had only a few months’ break (Feb intake). If they did so within 2 years, this means they had at least 12 months of non-training. During this period, the doctor could have undertaken a range of alternative roles e.g. clinical fellow, locum shifts, or simply went on a long holiday.
Discussion: This data shows the sharp decline in doctors immediately entering specialty training post-Foundation Programme, dropping from almost two-thirds (65.85%) to just below one-quarter (24.88%) of the cohort. More doctors have at least a year of non-training before commencing specialty training. However, the tool does not quantify how many did so by choice (e.g. wanting a ‘gap year’) or by circumstance (e.g. unable to enter desired training programme).
There are also doctors who do not enter specialty training even after 4 or more years. The tool does not specify but presumably these doctors could have left the profession, or continue to practise in roles that do not require specialty training.
In comparison to a previous [post ](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/1daw1gq/oc_career_destinations_of_uk_doctors/)of a similar nature, this current set of data might have a more robust methodology as it retrospectively compares official outcomes. The previous post utilised a survey, which is then dependent on response rate, and actual outcomes might differ following survey response.
![[OC] Proportion of UK doctors in specialty training by years post-Foundation Programme, 2012 – 2022](https://www.europesays.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/je8gb8qqeyhd1.png)
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Tools: Microsoft Excel, GIMP
Source: Education data tool, General Medical Council
Context: In UK, all medical graduates who wish to practise medicine undertake a 2-year Foundation Programme in the National Health Service (NHS), equivalent to internship in America or housemanship elsewhere. After the 2 years, having achieved full medical registration, they are free to pursue various career options – one of which being specialty training (including GP training).
Except in certain cases, doctors complete Foundation Programme on the first Tuesday of every August, two years after they commenced. Most specialty training programmes run yearly recruitment cycles which commence on the first Wednesday of every August, although some run it every 6 months with an additional February intake.
If a doctor has commenced specialty training within 1 year of completing Foundation (shown in green), this means they would have either started immediately (Aug intake) or had only a few months’ break (Feb intake). If they did so within 2 years, this means they had at least 12 months of non-training. During this period, the doctor could have undertaken a range of alternative roles e.g. clinical fellow, locum shifts, or simply went on a long holiday.
Discussion: This data shows the sharp decline in doctors immediately entering specialty training post-Foundation Programme, dropping from almost two-thirds (65.85%) to just below one-quarter (24.88%) of the cohort. More doctors have at least a year of non-training before commencing specialty training. However, the tool does not quantify how many did so by choice (e.g. wanting a ‘gap year’) or by circumstance (e.g. unable to enter desired training programme).
There are also doctors who do not enter specialty training even after 4 or more years. The tool does not specify but presumably these doctors could have left the profession, or continue to practise in roles that do not require specialty training.
In comparison to a previous [post ](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/1daw1gq/oc_career_destinations_of_uk_doctors/)of a similar nature, this current set of data might have a more robust methodology as it retrospectively compares official outcomes. The previous post utilised a survey, which is then dependent on response rate, and actual outcomes might differ following survey response.