The Impact of Medical Careers Fairs on the Career Aspirations of Medical Students

Careers fairs are a popular way to showcase specialties and encourage medical students to start career planning. There is very little information on the impact these fairs have. This study sets out to measure this impact and define which factors are important when making career decisions. The results show that the careers fair had an impact on the career choices of attendees but the reasons for these choices remained the same. Results also showed that the majority of attendees felt the careers fair was beneficial. In light of the GP recruitment crisis it is also interesting to note that responses ranking this specialty highly increased post fair. Hassaan Waqar is a General Practice trainee in Birmingham with an interest in Medical Education and General Practice. He graduated from the University of Leicester Medical School in 2015. Philippa James is a Foundation doctor in the East Midlands with an interest in Medical Education and Sexual Health and Gynaecology. She studied at the University of Leicester and was a student there at the time of the research project. The authors would particularly like to thank Dr Judith West for her support and advice during this project. Thanks also to the University of Leicester Medical School for facilitating this project. This paper is based on a poster at the AMEE 2018 Conference. Cottrell, E. (2007) ‘Helping medical students to get the career advice , information and guidance they want’, in ASME Conference: A Career Service for Doctors in Training. London: ASME, p. 10. Available at: https://www.asme.org.uk/images/docs/2007/06_21_cottrell.pdf. HEE NHS. (2017) Specialty recruitment: round 1 - acceptance and fill rate. Available at: https://hee.nhs.uk/our-work/medical-recruitment/specialty-recruitment-round-1-acceptance-fill-rate (Accessed: 27 January 2019). UK Foundation Programme. (2017) UK Foundation Programme Career Destinations Report 2017. Available at: http://www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk/sites/default/files/2018-07/Career Destinations Report 2017 - FINAL_0.pdf (Accessed: 27 January 2019). Appendix A Appendix B Pre-fair Questionnaire This questionnaire is expected to take no more than 5 minutes. By filling in this questionnaire you agree to take part in this study. All data will be anonymised and can be withdrawn by contacting ____. We will ask you to kindly fill in a second survey after you have attended the 2016 careers fair, this will be emailed to you. If you have any questions about the study please email ___. Other 1 ………………………… Other 2 ………………………… Other 3 ………………………… Please rank at least 3: Financial reasons