1. What proportion of basic surgical trainees continue in a surgical career?A survey of the factors which are important in influencing career decisions. Richards et al. The Surgeon; Volume 7 No.5; October 2009 Phil O’Halloran Surgical SHO

2. UK Surgical Training  2007 (MMC) trainees recruited from foundation year 2 to RTT in a specific speciality.  Committing to speciality at very early stage.  Pre 2007: 2-3 year core training (Ireland)

3. Methods  467 BST trainees in West & South East of Scotland (1996-2006)  299 had valid email addresses  Invited to participate in an online survey

4. Survey Questions

5. Results  64% response rate (191/299)  72% males (137/191) Figure 1-No.of respondents starting the BST each year

6. Results I want to be a surgeon! Figure 2- timing of decision to pursue a career in surgery

7. Results

8. At the time of survey….. 78% still in surgery (149/191) 20% moved out of surgery (38/191) 2% left medicine completely (4/191)

9. Results Figure 4.Current careers who have left surgery

10. Limitations  Biased  Weak study- but topical  Small number- poor uptake  Not national

11. Discussion!  As of the 8 th of October 2009 @ 14.23 BST is now a 3 year programme in Ireland. - is this the way forward???