Specialist registrars' plans for working part time as consultants in medical specialties: questionnaire study

Almost 40% of all specialist registrars who hold national training numbers in medical specialties are women.1 Little is known about their career intentions, and specifically on how they plan to cope with the competing pressures of family and career when they become consultants. Questions on this issue were therefore included in a recent national survey of specialist registrars. The Royal College of Physicians sent a questionnaire in December 1999 to all 2495 trainees in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland holding national training numbers in medical specialties. Replies were received from 1362 (55%), of whom 1311 answered the question, would you like a part time (eight sessions or less) post when you become a consultant? They had five options: “yes—definitely,” “yes—probably,” “yes—possibly,” “no—probably not,” and “no—definitely not.” The number and percentage of women (n=541) giving each response were …