Survey of non-consultant career grade doctors in genitourinary medicine and sexual health departments 2005.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R Challenor.
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The Genitourinary Medicine Non-Consultant Career Grade Group (GUM NCCG Group) was established for the purpose of looking at training and contractual issues for this heterogeneous group of doctors. In June 2003, 700 questionnaires were posted to NCCG doctors in the UK to enquire about various aspects of working conditions. A summary of the 244 replies (35% response) is presented. Eighty-four (34%) had a job plan and 81 (33%) had had an appraisal. Just over one-third (38%) had time allocated for continuing medical education (CME), audit and administration. The response of employers to attempts by NCCGs to upgrade was poor. In all, 195 (80%) said they were registered for the purpose of continuing professional development (CPD), 43 (18%) were not and six people did not know whether they were registered or not. These results give cause for real concern at this point regarding revalidation pathways. Our survey highlights that NCCGs are disadvantaged in terms of appraisal, CPD and career progression and some jobs will be at risk as revalidation approaches.
We conducted a survey of patients attending two GUM clinics to evaluate the use of the internet for seeking sexual partners and for seeking on-line sexual health information. Prevalence of internet sex-seeking (ISS) was 11% (57/500) in Plymouth and 21% (50/237) in London. ISS was more common among men who have sex with men (MSM) (43/92 = 47%) than men who have sex with women (MSW) (38/280 = 14%, P < 0.0001) and more common amongst MSW than women who have sex with men (WSM) (25/350 = 7%, P = 0.007). In both samples, accessing sexual health information online was associated with ISS (Plymouth, P = 0.05 and London, P = 0.001), as was reporting more than 10 sexual partners per year (Plymouth and London, P < 0.001). It remains to be seen whether the potential sexual health promotion benefits of the internet could balance potential risks of STI acquisition.
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