Ten Years on

The careers of doctors qualifying in the United Kingdom ?ver the decade 1974 to 1983 are being studied by a Qroup now based in Oxford (1). As part of the study, the doctors who graduated from Bristol in 1976 were surveyed about career preferences during their preregistration year (2), but unlike those qualifying in 1974, 1977, 1980 and 1983 they are not being followed to assess career progress. However as members of that Year we were interested to know the careers that were heing pursued and so while organising a ten year reunion which was held in August 1986, we collected data 0r> our fellow graduates and have compared current careers with the preferences expressed almost a decade earlier. Information was obtained on 100 of the 118 doctors ^ho graduated from Bristol University Medical School in 1976. Ninety seven percent (58 men and 39 women) were Poetising medicine, 66% full-time and of those working Part-time (1 man and 30 women), all were married with children. Forty nine percent were GPs and of the 9 consultants there were 3 pathologists (2 women), 2 anaesthetists, 1 geriatrician, 1 psychiatrist, 1 female paediatrician and 1 ophthalmologist. Seven of the 9 doctors who had passed finals with honours were in hospital practice, ^ as consultants and 5 as senior registrars. Eight of the 12 ^ho had been awarded distinctions at finals were work-