Background
At the present time throughout the UK there is a
sizeable number of vacant posts for consultant Psychiatrists
(approximately 12% according to the most recent RCPsych annual
census). This shortage varies widely across the UK and by
psychiatric specialty. The shortfall is partly the result of UK
medical schools training too few doctors generally - a situation
soon to improve, though the impact of an increase in the number of
medical school places will take 12-15 years to be manifest in new
applicants to consultant posts. Another major determinant of the
consultant shortfall is the significant proportion of SHOs in
psychiatry who do not progress to higher psychiatric training or to
consultant grade posts. This 'attrition' may be as high as
35-50%.
However, it is not known why doctors who embark
upon postgraduate psychiatric training leave prior to taking up a
consultant post, nor is it clear at what stage of their training do
trainee psychiatrists leave the specialty. Of equal interest, it is
not known what factors positively influence trainee psychiatrists
to complete their training and become consultants. Moreover, it is
not clear whether or not there are regional variations in trainee
attrition, and whether this is related to local training schemes.
Knowing the answers to these questions is clearly a prerequisite to
identifying the measures necessary to improve 'retention' of
trainees and to decrease the proportion of vacant consultant
posts.
The Project
This project gathered accurate and meaningful
data on the level of 'attrition' at each stage of psychiatric
training, nationally, regionally and locally, and has further
investigated why trainees leave at each stage. In addition, we have
identified 'positive' factors during postgraduate training that
appear to encourage trainees to persist to consultant level. The
project also examined the factors that affect consultant attrition
before the age of 65.
CIPTAC final
report
Psychiatrists'career development after flexible training final
report
The CIPTAC Team
CIPTAC is co-ordinated by a project team based at
the College Research Unit:
Dr. Tim Kendall (Deputy Director, CRU), Professor Cornelius Katona
(Dean, RCPsych), Ms. Carole Pashley (Deputy Head of Postgraduate
Education, RCPsych), Dr. Sally Pidd (Deputy Registrar, RCPsych) and
Dr. Alex Mears (Research Fellow, CRU).