Congratulations to Ben Kumwenda, whose paper has just been accepted for publication by BMC Medical Education!
Ben's paper uses the UK Medical Education Database (UKMED) to explore the geographical mobility of medical graduates from parental home to their first job post, the Foundation doctor (FY1). In this study, Ben examined a broad range of trainees’ sociodemographic characteristics and tested how they predict the trainees’ likelihood to train at foundation schools that are closer to parental home. One of the findings from the study is that doctors from widening access backgrounds are more likely to train at foundation schools that are closer to parental home.
Commenting on the results, Ben highlighted that these are of interest because we are now beginning to understand the connection between widening access and workforce planning. These findings are timely considering the NHS recruitment challenges and UK’s government policy to train more medical students in under-doctored areas. We now have the evidence that doctors from widening access background are more likely to train local, and therefore a boost to the local workforce