Factors associated with choosing a career in General Practice (431)
Introduction: Australia is facing medical workforce shortages particularly surrounding general practice (GP). This study aimed to determine if there were any predictive factors associated with medical students and doctors choosing GP as a first career preference.
Method: The Australian Medical Outcomes Database and Longitudinal Tracking (MSOD) Project collects data on all Australian medical students and doctors. The MSOD Project invites all enrolling medical students to complete the Commencing Medical Students Questionnaire (CSMQ), the Exit Questionnaire (EQ) and questionnaires during Postgraduate Years 1, 3, 5 and 8 (PGY1, PGY3, PGY 5 and PGY8). The major objective of the MSOD project is to obtain career intentions, locations and outcomes of all medical students and doctors in Australia.
Results: From 2005-2012 over 36,244 questionnaires were completed. Of all students and doctors 13.3% (CMSQ), 12.6% (EQ) and 17.8% (PGY1) chose GP as their first preference. At CMSQ; being female, in a relationship or married, older than 26 years, born in Australia and speaking English as first language were contributing factors to choosing GP as a first preference. At EQ being female, in a relationship, married or other, being older than 36 years, having children and English as a first language were contributing factors to choosing GP as a first preference. At PGY1 being female, in a relationship, married or other, being older than 26 years and having children were contributing factors to choosing GP as a first preference.
Conclusion: At EQ and PGY1 having children was more associated with choosing GP compared with CMSQ. At PGY1 speaking English as a first language was not associated with choosing a career in GP compared with EQ and CMSQ. As the study continues future research will include analysis using postgraduate data (PGY3, PGY5, PGY8) to determine factors associated with doctors registered or training as GPs.