Distribution of doctors’ reasonsa for rejecting general practice and all other specialties combined, comparing males and females
| All, % | Male, % | Female, % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reason for rejecting specialty | GP | All other | GP | All other | GP | All other |
| Job content | 78.0 | 32.4 | 71.0 | 38.3 | 80.2 | 29.0 |
| Content of rejected specialty | 33.1 | 11.0 | 29.0 | 14.0 | 34.4 | 9.3 |
| Positive preference for another specialty | 29.1 | 10.3 | 25.8 | 12.2 | 30.2 | 9.3 |
| Bad experience of the rejected specialty | 11.0 | 11.5 | 9.7 | 12.4 | 11.5 | 11.0 |
| Too much administration/bureaucracy | 7.1 | 0.8 | 6.5 | 1.3 | 7.3 | 0.6 |
| Work–life balance | 0.8 | 42.6 | 0.0 | 29.4 | 1.0 | 50.2 |
| Training | 5.5 | 8.2 | 0.0 | 11.7 | 7.3 | 6.3 |
| Poor training | 4.7 | 7.4 | 0.0 | 11.0 | 6.3 | 5.3 |
| Too much requirement for research | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Competition | 3.1 | 12.7 | 6.5 | 14.1 | 2.1 | 11.9 |
| Competitive specialty | 3.1 | 7.4 | 6.5 | 8.3 | 2.1 | 6.9 |
| Too few training posts/competition for training posts | 0.0 | 5.0 | 0.0 | 5.3 | 0.0 | 4.9 |
| Exams — too many/too difficult | 0.0 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Stressful/lack of support/working conditions | 6.3 | 10.5 | 9.7 | 11.8 | 5.2 | 9.7 |
| Training too long | 0.8 | 5.4 | 0.0 | 5.6 | 1.0 | 5.2 |
| Future of the specialty uncertain/unstable | 7.1 | 1.7 | 6.5 | 3.2 | 7.3 | 0.8 |
| Inadequate salary | 0.0 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
| Self-appraisal | 3.9 | 4.5 | 3.2 | 4.7 | 4.2 | 4.4 |
| Advice | 2.4 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 3.1 | 1.3 |
| Working relationships within the specialty | 0.8 | 5.3 | 3.2 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 5.2 |
| Fear of litigation | 0.8 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 3.1 |
| Change in personal circumstances | 0.0 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 2.1 |
| Lack of exposure and opportunities so far | 1.6 | 2.1 | 3.2 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 2.2 |
| Number of doctors rejecting specialty | 127 | 2140 | 31 | 780 | 96 | 1360 |
↵a Some doctors gave more than one reason and each reason was counted. Significance tests, comparing those rejecting general practice and those rejecting other specialties: job content (χ21 = 107.2, P<0.001), work–life balance (χ21 = 85.5, P<0.001), training (χ21 = 0.8, P = 0.36), competition (χ21 = 9.4, P<0.01), self-appraisal (χ21 = 0.01, P = 0.93).