ArticleBMJ open2023
'They say': medical students' perceptions of General Practice, experiences informing these perceptions, and their impact on career intention-a qualitative study among medical students in England.
Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Factors influencing UK medical students' choice of general practice: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2026Pooled it
- The impact of the harmonised education tariff on undergraduate general practice education in England: a qualitative interview study.BMC medical education · 2026Article
- General practice specialty decision making: a system-level Australian qualitative study.BJGP open · 2025Article
- Unlocking student potential through engagement: exploring the learning outcomes and career intentions of medical students transferring from junior colleges to undergraduate universities in China.BMC medical education · 2025Article
- Influence of a rural Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship on medical graduates' geographic and specialty decisions: a constructivist grounded theory study.BMC medical education · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe number of UK graduates choosing General Practice training remains significantly lower than the current numbers required to meet the demands of the service. This work aims to explore medical students' perceptions of General Practice, experiences which lead to the development of these perceptions, and the ultimate impact of these on career intention.
designThis mixed-methods, qualitative study used focus groups, semistructured interviews, longitudinal audio diary data and debrief interviews to explore and capture the experiences and perceptions of students in their first and penultimate years of university.
settingThree English medical schools.
participantsTwenty students were recruited to focus groups from first and fourth/fifth year of study. All students in these years of study were invited to attend. Six students were recruited into the longitudinal diary study to further explore their experiences.
resultsThis work identified that external factors, internal driving force and the 'they say' phenomenon were all influential on the development of perceptions and ultimately career intention. External factors may be split into human or non-human influences, for example, aspirational/inspirational seniors, family, peers (human), placements and 'the push' of GP promotion (non-human). Driving force refers to internal factors, to which the student compares their experiences in an ongoing process of reflection, to understand if they feel General Practice is a career they wish to pursue. The 'they say' phenomenon refers to a passive and pervasive perception, without a known source, whereby usually negative perceptions circulate around the undergraduate community.
conclusionFuture strategies to recruit graduates to General Practice need to consider factors at an undergraduate level. Positive placement experiences should be maximised, while avoiding overtly 'pushing' GP onto students.
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Registered trials
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 OpenQuestion graph.