Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38423780›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2024

Determining the distance patterns in the movements of future doctors in UK between 2002 and 2015: a retrospective cohort study.

Lucy Hitchings, Ben Fleet, Daniel Thomas Smith, Jonathan M Read, Colin Melville, Luigi Sedda

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
2.2field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Lucy HitchingsMathematics and Statistics, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.
Ben FleetLancaster Medical School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-8832-8531
Daniel Thomas SmithGeneral Medical Council, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-1215-5811
Jonathan M ReadCentre for Health Informatics, Computing and Statistics, Lancaster Medical School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-9697-0962
Colin MelvilleSchool of Medical Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Luigi SeddaLancaster Ecology and Epidemiology Group, Lancaster Medical School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK l.sedda@lancaster.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0002-9271-6596
Lancaster University · GBGeneral Medical Council · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo determine and identify distance patterns in the movements of medical students and junior doctors between their training locations.

designA retrospective cohort study of UK medical students from 2002 to 2015 (UKMED data).

settingAll UK medical schools, foundations and specialty training organisation.

participantsAll UK medical students from 2002 to 2015, for a total of 97 932 participants. OUTCOME MEASURES: Individual movements and number of movements by county of students from family home to medical school training, from medical school to foundation training and from foundation to specialty training.

methodsLeslie matrix, principal components analysis, Gini coefficient, χ

resultsThe majority of the movements between the different stages of the full pathway were restricted to a distance of up to 50 km; although the proportion of movements changed from year-to-year, with longer movements during 2007-2008. At the individual level, ethnicity, socioeconomic class of the parent(s) and the deprivation score of the family home region were found to be the most important factors associated with the length of the movements from the family home to medical school. Similar results were found when movements were aggregated at the county level, with the addition of factors such as gender and qualification at entry (to medical school) being statistically associated with the number of new entrant students moving between counties.

conclusionOur findings show that while future doctors do not move far from their family home or training location, this pattern is not homogeneous over time. Distances are influenced by demographics, socioeconomic status and deprivation. These results may contribute in designing interventions aimed at solving the chronic problems of maldistribution and underdoctoring in the UK.

Indexed as

Career ChoiceStudents, MedicalGender IdentityHumansRetrospective StudiesSchools, MedicalSocial ClassUnited KingdomEDUCATION & TRAINING (see Medical Education & Training)HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION & MANAGEMENTSTATISTICS & RESEARCH METHODS

Identifiers

PMID38423780
PMCPMC10973690
OpenAlexW4392770386

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.