Factors Influencing Foundation Programme Choice among Medical Students

Abstract

ObjectivesThe advent of Modernising Medical Careers has replaced the traditional pre-registration house officer (PRHO) year and first year of senior house officer (SHO) training with a combined foundation programme. The aim of this study was to find out the factors influencing choice of foundation programme among medical students.DesignProspective survey.SettingThree medical schools based in England.Main outcome measuresA questionnaire was formulated containing the reasons for choosing a foundation programme with students asked to rank their choices.ResultsThere were 46 replies. The most important factors identified were geographical location (score 154) and combination of specialties (score 178). The least important factors was the reputation of consultants (score 525) and opportunities for research (score 530).ConclusionsThe factors influencing choice of foundation programme are not dissimilar to the choice of PRHO year despite the different emphasis in training which it offers.

What factors influence UK medical students’ choice of foundation school?

“…This is in keeping with previous similar studies by Patel et al9 and McElvanna et al10 Social relationships in the form of partner and family were second and third, respectively.…”

“…Our low response rate could have been addressed with a second wave of emails or providing paper-based questionnaires. Our study had a superior number of participants compared to the two previous studies9,10 (361 vs 149 [response rate=61%]10 and 46 [response rate unknown]9) and sampled of a greater percentage of medical schools (9 vs 110 and 39). Nevertheless, further studies should include a greater participant number from a more comprehensive number of foundation/medical schools.…”

“…The instruments used in our study were two 15-item questionnaires. As no existing instrument was validated to evaluate our study aims, the questions were developed based on literature review and factors previously identified as influential on future foundation school choice from studies published in peer-reviewed journals 9,10. We first piloted our study in our home institution (University of Sheffield) to ensure face validity and clarity.…”

What do UK medical students value most in their careers? A discrete choice experiment

“…Several attributes and levels are used to describe an alternative, and individuals’ stated choices are used to determine their preferences for changes in the attributes (see for further detail about DCEs within a medical education context). The DCE is used commonly in studies of the labour market choices of qualified health care professionals, although rarely with respect to doctors in training, and never, to the best of our knowledge, medical students (but see for the use of a DCE in students considering application to medical school). Our objective in using a DCE was to understand how medical students trade off different training position attributes when they choose their first training position.…”

“…In the UK, the first training position is an FP place, obtained via a national application and allocation system in which students rank specific programmes. Previous research has identified that the factors that influence medical careers decision making generally are also pertinent to FP preferences . However, we do not know which of these factors are most important.…”