title: Career progression of men and women doctors in the UK NHS: a questionnaire study of the UK medical qualifiers of 1993 in 2010/2011.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report the career progression of a cohort of UK medical graduates in mid-career, comparing men and women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Postal and questionnaire survey conducted in 2010/2011, with comparisons with earlier surveys.
  
  
  METHODS
  UK.
  
  
  METHODS
  In total, 2507 responding UK medical graduates of 1993.
  
  
  METHODS
  Doctors' career specialties, grade, work location and working pattern in 2010/2011 and equivalent data in earlier years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The respondents represented 72% of the contactable cohort; 90% were working in UK medicine and 7% in medicine outside the UK; 87% were in the UK NHS (87% of men and 86% of women). Of doctors in the NHS, 70.6% of men and 52.0% of women were in the hospital specialties and the great majority of the others were in general practice. Within hospital specialties, a higher percentage of men than women were in surgery, and a higher percentage of women than men were in paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, clinical oncology, pathology and psychiatry. In the NHS, 63% of women and 8% of men were working less-than-full-time (in general practice, 19% of men and 83% of women; and in hospital specialties, 3% of men and 46% of women). Among doctors who had always worked full-time, 94% of men and 87% of women GPs were GP principals; in hospital practice, 96% of men and 93% of women had reached consultant level.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The 1993 graduates show a continuing high level of commitment to the NHS. Gender differences in seniority lessened considerably when comparing doctors who had always worked full-time.
authors.affiliation: UK Medical Careers Research Group, Unit of Health-Care Epidemiology, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus, Oxford OX3 7LF, UK.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Svirko
authors.affiliation: UK Medical Careers Research Group, Unit of Health-Care Epidemiology, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus, Oxford OX3 7LF, UK.
authors.forename: Trevor W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Lambert
authors.affiliation: UK Medical Careers Research Group, Unit of Health-Care Epidemiology, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Old Road Campus, Oxford OX3 7LF, UK.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Goldacre
keywords: career choices; career progression; gender differences; medical careers