Medical students survey
Following the announcement to impose the junior doctor contract by the government, and the publication
of the Equality Impact Assessment, the BMA wanted to find out whether this had influenced medical
students' future career intentions and attitudes towards working in the NHS.
To this end, we surveyed all 15,247 of the BMA’s student members in England with valid email addresses
on Thursday 7th April, and gave them 8 days to respond, until midday Friday 15th April.
We received valid responses from 1,197 individuals, a response rate of 7.9%.
Demographics
The BMA’s membership records of medical students with a registered address in England shows that there
are 17,036 total members.
This compares with our respondent sample of 1,197 individuals.
Looking at the demographic breakdown we can see how those who responded to the survey roughly mirror
the wider student population.
Gender
Female
Male
Unknown/Prefer not to
say
Age
Unknown
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
BMA
membership
(%)
54.8
45.0
Survey respondents
(%)
51.8
48.1
0.2
0.3
BMA
membership
(%)
0.3
4.6
13.0
12.6
11.7
13.0
13.9
11.0
5.6
3.5
2.4
2.0
1.3
1.1
0.9
0.5
0.6
0.3
0.3
Survey respondents
(%)
0.3
4.1
8.7
8.2
10.4
12.0
13.6
14.6
7.5
5.4
3.3
2.9
2.1
1.6
0.5
1.0
0.8
0.4
0.8
36
37
38
39
40+
0.2
0.2
0.1
0.2
0.7
0.6
0.2
0.3
0.0
0.8
Survey respondents
(%)
4 years
5 years
6 years
Unknown
BMA
membership
(%)
11.1
75.2
13.6
0.0
Year you expect to
graduate
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
BMA
Membership
(%)
28.3
15.5
15.2
16.9
20.4
3.7
Survey respondents
(%)
Course length
15.4
54.1
30.5
-
31.7
18.4
14.7
15.4
15.1
4.3
Prior career plans
Thinking back to the start of junior doctor
contract negotiations in early 2013 (or when
you embarked upon your medical studies if
that was more recent), did you have any idea
of the area of medicine you wanted to work in
post-graduation?
Yes
No
Unable to say
Total
If so, which of the following best fits the area
you had in mind?
Hospital practice
General practice
Public health medicine
Community health
Research or academic medicine
Other
Total
%
52.0
45.4
2.6
100.0
%
78.8
14.2
0.6
0.8
3.5
2.1
100.0
If you have chosen ‘hospital practice’ above,
please indicate specialty
Acute care common stem
Anaesthetics
Clinical radiology and oncology
Emergency medicine
Higher medical specialty training
Obstetrics and gynaecology
Ophthalmology
Paediatrics and child health
Pathology (including Histopathology or Medical
microbiology and Virology)
Psychiatry
Higher surgical specialty training
Other
Total
%
9.7
6.8
1.9
16.3
8.9
6.6
1.4
16.7
1.0
4.3
22.7
3.5
100.0
Knowledge of the junior doctor contract to be imposed
How familiar are you with the junior doctor
contract which is to be imposed by the
government?
Very familiar
Somewhat familiar
A little familiar
Not at all familiar
Total
Where did you get this information from?
(Please select all that are applicable)
Word of mouth
The BMA
NHS Employers
Social media
Department of Health website
General news media (e.g. newspapers, online,
print)
Other
%
38.1
52.7
9.0
0.2
100.0
%
74.8
93.4
37.9
83.5
29.0
76.9
4.8
Impact of the contract and future intentions
Given what you have heard and read about the contract being imposed on junior doctors and the EIA
(Equality Impact Assessment) conducted by the DH, have the recent developments made you more likely,
equally likely, or less likely to do the following:
To pursue a career in medicine when you
graduate?
More likely
0.8
Equally likely
63.2
Less likely
34.3
Cannot say
1.7
Total
To pursue a career in the NHS in England when
you graduate?
More likely
Equally likely
Less likely
Cannot say
Total
To pursue a career in the NHS outside of
England when you graduate?
eg to work for the NHS in Scotland, Wales or
NI.
More likely
Equally likely
Less likely
Cannot say
Total
To pursue a career in medicine outside of the
NHS?
More likely
Equally likely
Less likely
Cannot say
Total
%
100.0
%
0.3
15.5
82.4
1.8
100.0
%
72.2
19.0
5.2
3.7
100.0
%
74.5
19.8
1.9
3.8
100.0
To pursue a career in medicine outside of the
UK when you graduate?
More likely
Equally likely
Less likely
%
82.9
14.3
0.9
Cannot say
Total
1.9
100.0
To re-consider which area of medicine you
wanted to work in?
More likely
Equally likely
Less likely
Cannot say
Total
To take a break during your career or work
less-than-full-time
(if working in the NHS in England in the
future)?
More likely
Equally likely
Less likely
Cannot say
Total
%
55.5
33.8
4.3
6.4
100.0
%
36.6
22.6
27.9
12.9
100.0
Attitudes and reactions to contract imposition
Thinking about the wider impact of the recent events: the junior doctor contract to be imposed and the
publication of the Equality Impact Assessment...
Which of the following best describes the effect imposing the contract has had on...
How much you look forward to working in the
NHS in the future?
More enthusiastic
Less enthusiastic
No change
Cannot say
Total
How likely you are to recommend studying
medicine to your family or friends?
More likely
Less likely
No change
Cannot say
Total
How inclusive you view the NHS as an
employer?
More inclusive
Less inclusive
No change
Cannot say
Total
%
0.6
94.0
4.8
0.6
100.0
%
0.5
76.5
20.3
2.7
100.0
%
0.3
81.8
9.3
8.6
100.0