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Career barriers in medicine : doctors' experiences

BMA Equal Opportunities Committee
June 2004

Foreword
The BMA is committed to the elimination of unlawful discrimination and the removal of barriers to careers throughout the medical profession. In order to further explore these issues, the equal opportunities committee (EOC) decided that the remit of this publication should include doctors of minority ethnic groups, women doctors, disabled doctors, and gay, lesbian and bisexual doctors.

These doctors are likely to experience career barriers and discrimination; this report aims to explore how they are affected and provide insight into how this kind of discrimination manifests itself. This report provides some key messages about medical career barriers and it illustrates that these have broad consequences for the medical profession as a whole.

The BMA demands more action to tackle discrimination. However, this report does not answer all the questions nor solve the problems identified. It does identify some of the key issues that need to be addressed and presents suggested approaches, upon which we would welcome further discussion.

The science and education secretariat carried out the research for this report. Through the accounts of individual experiences, it provides insight into some of the barriers that have been experienced by those who participated in the interviews. This report forms a fundamental component of the BMA’s evolving equality and diversity strategy. This strategy has a strong focus on issues of race, but also includes emphases on other strands of equality such as disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion and belief.

The EOC has produced reports and guidance on equality issues. For example, Dealing with discrimination: a guide for BMA members, and an internet resource for doctors with disabilities. The EOC is currently working on a number of other projects that address issues of equality and discrimination, such as the production of anti-discriminatory language guidelines and guidance on ethnicity monitoring. The BMA is also involved with other professional stakeholders to address many of the issues relating to equality and diversity within the medical profession.

This report is for doctors, healthcare professionals, medical workforce managers, educationalists and organisations that have strategic and operational responsibilities for the career progression of doctors.

Dr George Rae
Chair, equal opportunities committee
June 2004

‘As co-chairs of the EOC we are committed to tackling the career barriers identified in this report. It is no longer acceptable in this day and age for doctors to be denied the opportunity to fulfil their potential because of discrimination and inequalities. We will be working with the members of the EOC and the staff of the BMA to challenge and change attitudes both within the medial profession and in the wider NHS which deny opportunities to doctors to fulfil their potential. For tool long little has been done to ensure equality of opportunity for doctors in the NHS. This report sets out clearly the size of the problem and the effects it has on individual doctors’ lives. The challenge now is to deliver real change over the next few years so that every doctor, regardless of skin colour, gender, disability or sexual orientation is able to play a crucial part in the NHS and deliver first class care to patients. Only in this way can doctors realise their full potential and ensure that the NHS achieves its goals.’

Dr Aneez Esmail and Dr Sam Everington
elected co-chairs
equal opportunities committee.

The way forward
Minority ethnic doctors and doctors with international qualifications
Doctors with disabilities
Medical Women
Lesbian, gay and bisexual doctors

This report is also available from:
BMA science and education department
British Medical Association
BMA House
Tavistock Square
London WC1H 9JP
email: info.science@bma.org.uk

Editorial board
A publication from the BMA science and education department and the equal opportunities committee.

Chair, equal opportunities committee - Dr George Rae
Director of professional activities - Professor Vivienne Nathanson
Head of science and education - Dr Caroline Seddon
Project manager - Hilary Forrester
Research and writing - Dalia Ben-Galim
Research and editorial team - Bimal Chaudhari, Fleur Conn, Sherri Cooper, Darshna Gohil, Nicky Jayesinghe, Louise Lakey, Elaine Martyn, Angela Sharpe

Equal opportunities committee
This report was prepared under the auspices of the equal opportunities committee of the British Medical Association, whose membership for 2003/2004 is as follows.

Sir Brian Jarman - President, BMA
Dr G Rae - Chairman, BMA representative body
Mr J Johnson - Chairman, BMA council
Dr D Pickersgill - Treasurer, BMA
Dr G Rae - Chair, equal opportunities committee
Dr E Borman
Mr M Khan
Dr T John
Mr C Darke
Mr S Smith
Mr J Waters
Mr L Ali
Mr M Oko
Dr P Miller
Dr J Chisholm
Miss K Hebert
Dr G Dilliway
Dr A Esmail - elected co-chair, equal opportunities committee (from July 2004)
Dr S Everington - elected co-chair, equal opportunities committee (from July 2004)

Acknowledgements
The Association is very grateful for the help provided by the BMA committees and many outside experts and organisations. We would particularly like to thank reviewers Dr E Borman, Dr S Everington, Dr J Fenton-May, Dr D Goodsman, Professor R Gupta, Dr R MacDonald, Dr S Mercer, Dr L Miller, Dr B Muller, Surg Cdre JJW Sykes and Mr P Taysum.

We are indebted to Dr Danė Goodsman (JCHST Curriculum Project Manager, Royal College of Surgeons of England) for providing training and guidance to the research team in conducting the interviews and analysing the responses.

We would also like to thank the doctors who contributed to this study.