TY - JOUR
T1 - A cross-sectional survey of doctors’ views on flexible postgraduate physician training in Ireland
AU - Loughlin, Elaine A.
AU - McNamara, Rachel E.
AU - Antonenko, Alisa
AU - Gabr, Ahmed
AU - Galvin, Rose
AU - Slattery, Natasha
AU - O’Regan, Anthony
AU - O’Neill, Michael B.
AU - O’Connor, Margaret
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland.
PY - 2023/6
Y1 - 2023/6
N2 - Recruitment and retention of doctors is a priority for the Irish healthcare service, with many leaving to work in regions with more favourable conditions. Aligning flexible training options with other jurisdictions may be an effective means of improving working conditions. We sought to assess possible improvements to the existing system and to review barriers to flexible training. We carried out a survey using ‘Survey Monkey’ and disseminated it to 1557 basic specialist (BST) and higher specialist trainee (HST) doctors of the Institute of Medicine, 3500 members of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), and across social media. There were 854 respondents; 303 (35.5%) BST, 352 (41.2%) HST, 125 (14.6%) non-training doctors, unknown, n = 74. The response rate was approximately 15–23%. Non-consultant doctors identified a preference for access to flexible training (n = 849, 99.4%), with 82.2 of doctors reporting that they would consider applying (n = 702). Most (92.4%) considered the current provision of 16 whole-time equivalent positions as inadequate (n = 789). Of doctors who would not apply for flexible training, themes identified included a perceived negative impact on their career, not meeting eligibility criteria, prolonged training, and salary implications. Suggestions for improving the system included expanding the number of places available, removing eligibility criteria, job sharing options, and the provision of regional training schemes. Access to flexible training should be a priority for the healthcare service, which may enhance recruitment and retention. A majority of our sample of non-consultant doctors identified a preference for access to flexible training options.
AB - Recruitment and retention of doctors is a priority for the Irish healthcare service, with many leaving to work in regions with more favourable conditions. Aligning flexible training options with other jurisdictions may be an effective means of improving working conditions. We sought to assess possible improvements to the existing system and to review barriers to flexible training. We carried out a survey using ‘Survey Monkey’ and disseminated it to 1557 basic specialist (BST) and higher specialist trainee (HST) doctors of the Institute of Medicine, 3500 members of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), and across social media. There were 854 respondents; 303 (35.5%) BST, 352 (41.2%) HST, 125 (14.6%) non-training doctors, unknown, n = 74. The response rate was approximately 15–23%. Non-consultant doctors identified a preference for access to flexible training (n = 849, 99.4%), with 82.2 of doctors reporting that they would consider applying (n = 702). Most (92.4%) considered the current provision of 16 whole-time equivalent positions as inadequate (n = 789). Of doctors who would not apply for flexible training, themes identified included a perceived negative impact on their career, not meeting eligibility criteria, prolonged training, and salary implications. Suggestions for improving the system included expanding the number of places available, removing eligibility criteria, job sharing options, and the provision of regional training schemes. Access to flexible training should be a priority for the healthcare service, which may enhance recruitment and retention. A majority of our sample of non-consultant doctors identified a preference for access to flexible training options.
KW - Flexible training
KW - Less than full time training
KW - Postgraduate medical training
KW - Recruitment
KW - Retention
KW - Training
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85135805659&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11845-022-03119-2
DO - 10.1007/s11845-022-03119-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 35962252
AN - SCOPUS:85135805659
SN - 0021-1265
VL - 192
SP - 1021
EP - 1026
JO - Irish Journal of Medical Science
JF - Irish Journal of Medical Science
IS - 3
ER -