National report on doctors five years after graduating from New Zealand medical schools in 2011-2019

Abstract

This report provides the findings from Medical Schools Outcomes Database (MSOD) questionnaires administered between 2016 and 2024 to nine cohorts of doctors who had graduated from a New Zealand medical school five years previously (PGY5), between 2011 and 2019. A total of 1,926 from the 3,966 eligible doctors (48.7%) completed questionnaires. Over this time there has been a slight over-representation of women responding (women made up 58% of respondents but are approximately 55% of the 2011 to 2019 graduates). The median age of the respondents is steady, at about 29.5 years. This also matches the median age of the 2011 to 2019 graduate group at PGY5. The self-identified ethnicity of respondents indicates a trend toward an increasing prevalence of doctors identifying as Māori and/or Pacific people, however the proportions still underrepresent the proportion of Māori and Pacific people in the New Zealand population. Five years after graduating, 90% of respondents agree or strongly agree their medical work and training since graduation has helped prepare them for work as a doctor, 87% of respondents are working as a registrar and/or are in training under supervision, and 76% are enrolled in a College training programme. Of those, about 28% are enrolled in the General Practice training programme. The majority of respondents intend to be enrolled in a College training programme within the next three years (79% of all respondents at PGY6 and PGY7, 73% at PGY8). By their PGY8 year, 13% intend to be vocationally registered. Only 3% of respondents intend to work in a clinical role outside New Zealand within the next three years. In the longer term, 96% of respondents intend to work in New Zealand: 63% in a major city, 28% in a regional centre or large town, and the remainder in smaller towns. The percentage of respondents in PGY5 decided on a future medical specialty is about 93%. Consistently, the top preference is General Practice (26%), followed by Internal Medicine (13%) and Surgery (12%). Nearly half the respondents selected one of these three specialties as their first-choice preference. About 71% of respondents indicated an interest in medical teaching, and 40% an interest in research. Five years after graduation, respondents indicate both external and internal factors influence their specialty preference, with the highest ranked factors being atmosphere/work culture typical of the discipline, self-appraisal of own skills/aptitudes, influence of consultants/mentors, and work experience since graduation, in addition to interest in helping people. By comparison, the least influential factors influencing specialty preference include financial costs of vocational training, risk of litigation and associated insurance costs, financial costs of medical school education and/or debt, and influence of parents/relatives.https://www.otago.ac.nz/faculty-medicine/education/mbchb/about/accountability/external/msod-projec