Journal Article

7781 Supporting today’s students to become tomorrow’s paediatricians: improving access to paediatric career advice at an undergraduate level

Sen, Camilla, Baki, Yasmin, Choudhury, Annie, McMonnies, Kate, Bhagat, Tanya

2025

Overview

Why did you do this work?Paediatrics is becoming a less popular career choice. While the number of medical student places continues to increase, those choosing to specialise in paediatrics after graduation has steadily declined between 2016 to 2022.1–3 Coupled with the increased demand on paediatric services, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health have acknowledged that these issues ‘threaten the safety of our children’s health’.4 In response to this, we designed a mixed methods study with the following objectives:To explore fifth- and sixth-year UCL medical students’ views on current career advice received during undergraduate trainingTo investigate whether the clinical placement had altered medical students’ decision to apply to paediatrics after foundation trainingTo identify educational approaches to meet the needs of medical students considering a career in paediatrics.What did you do?We invited 40 UCL students to complete an online survey following their paediatric clinical placement between December 2023 and May 2024. 28 students responded (response rate 70%). This comprised of Likert scale and white space questions to gather both quantitative and qualitative data.We then hosted a focus group of 12 fifth- and sixth-year medical students. A systematic, non-probabilistic sampling method was used to identify those who had completed their paediatric clinical placement and were considering a career in paediatrics. Anonymised transcripts were analysed using an inductive thematic approach.What did you find?The initial survey found that 12 students (42.9%) were likely or very likely to apply to paediatrics with 22 students (78.6%) reporting that their clinical placement had a positive impact when considering a career in paediatrics. Both positive and negative impacts of the clinical placement were explored in the qualitative survey data.The main themes from our focus group discussion (FGD) were –Frustration around the current career advice availableWanting to understand the application process and how to gain relevant experienceA desire to hear more honest, personal experiences from paediatriciansA request for a mentoring or networking scheme for undergraduate medical studentsWhat does it mean?Our results show that there is a significant opportunity to engage students in meaningful career conversations at the end of their paediatric clinical placements. Following these results, we co-produced an infographic alongside a fifth-year medical student which focused on the areas of need identified in the FGD. This will be disseminated to all UCL medical students following their paediatric placement.We have since added a careers session to our teaching schedule. This focuses on the personal journeys of our junior doctors, honest accounts of being a paediatrician and an open Q&A forum.ReferencesBindal T, Wall D, Goodyear HM. Medical students’ views on selecting paediatrics as a career choice. European Journal of Pediatrics 2011;170(9):1193–9.Kahvo M, Whelan R, Vallabhaneni P. Why choose paediatrics? A scoping review of factors affecting the choice of paediatrics as a career. European Journal of Pediatrics 2023;182(1):9–23.Mallett P, Thompson A, Bourke T. Addressing recruitment and retention in paediatrics: a pipeline to a brighter future. Archives of Disease in Childhood – Education and Practice, 2022;107:57–63.Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health. (2018). Workforce briefing- winter 2018. Available at: https://www.rcpch.ac. uk/resources/workforce-briefing-winter-2018 [Accessed 30 December 2023].

• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subject: Career Choice / Careers / Child Health / Children / Childrens health / Focus groups / Group Discussion / Medical students / Pediatrics / Student Surveys / Students / Surveys / Thematic Approach / Training / Undergraduate Students / Undergraduate Study / Winter