Generational Diversity in the Medical Profession

NCT06446297 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 330463
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 30
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

The purpose of this work is to investigate how post-graduate doctors in training (PGDiTs) experience generational diversity with their colleagues in the workplace. The investigators want to explore and understand how PGDiTs perceive and experience generational diversity in the workplace and look into where these differences between generations could come from. The research team wants to do this by running focus groups. These focus groups would be made up of PGDiTs that are working within one hospital. The doctors will be split into the different generations (i.e. generation X, Y and Z). A set list of questions will be used to prompt and guide the focus group conversations. Each focus group will be audio-recorded using an electronic device and then analysed with the aid of computer software. The investigators will then generate themes from the data and use this to create an overall story of the data. It is hoped that this research can help inform supervisors and employers of the impact of generational diversity on on PGDiTs. This may be used to help develop ways of improving working relationships for PGDiTs with their supervisors and employers.

Conditions

Generation Gap; Generations; Intergenerational Relations

Keywords

Generation; Generation Gap; Generational Diversity; Intergenerational workforce

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Thematic Analysis

  Qualitative data analysis will be conducted using thematic analysis to generate a number of codes and themes from the transcripts generated from focus groups and semi-structured interviews.

  4 months.

Study Arms (3)

Generational X

Date of Birth (DOB) categorisation of Generation X: 1st January 1965 - 31st December 1980. PGDiTs recruited from the local hospital will be stratified into generational groups according to their date of birth. The investigators anticipate on having approximately two focus groups per generation.

Other: Focus Group.

Generation Y

DOB categorisation of Generation Y: 1st January 1981 - 31st December 1995. PGDiTs recruited from the local hospital will be stratified into generational groups according to their date of birth. The investigators anticipate on having approximately two focus groups per generation.

Other: Focus Group.

Generation Z

DOB categorisation of Generation Z: 1st January 1996 - 31st December 2010. PGDiTs recruited from the local hospital will be stratified into generational groups according to their date of birth. The investigators anticipate on having approximately two focus groups per generation.

Other: Focus Group.

Interventions

Focus Group. OTHER

Participants in each focus group will attend a face-to-face (or virtual) meeting that lasts approximately 90 minutes. This will be composed of a briefing period, interview period supported and guided by an interview schedule and finishing with a debrief period. The same process will be followed if individual semi-structured interviews are undertaken.

Generation Y; Generation Z; Generational X

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 100 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The study participants must a postgraduate doctor-in-training working within a recognised training programme in the Southwest of England and currently based at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust. This will range from newly qualified doctors that are working within the foundation programme to doctors that are working in higher specialty training programmes.

The following criteria must all be met to permit inclusion in the research study: * Any medically qualified healthcare professional with a General Medical Council (GMC) registration number, AND * Currently working in a recognised training programme in the Southwest (i.e. foundation year training, integrated medical training, core surgical training, acute care common stem training, higher specialty training), AND * Currently based at University Hospitals Plymouth (UHP), AND * Consents to being interviewed and recorded for the purposes of the study. An individual will be excluded from the study if any of the following criteria are met: * Any medically qualified professional with a GMC registration number that is not currently enrolled within a recognised training programme at UHP, OR * any medical professional working outside of UHP, OR * employed as an Allied Health Professional, Advanced Clinical Practitioner, Advanced Critical Care Practitioner or Physician Associate will not be eligible for inclusion in the study, OR * any individual eligible for inclusion into the study that does NOT consent to being interviewed OR recorded.

Contact the study team to discuss eligibility requirements. They can help determine if this study is right for you.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University Hospital Plymouth NHS Trust: lead
• University of Plymouth: collaborator
• Health Education England, Wessex: collaborator

Related Publications (1)

• Boissaud-Cooke MA, Yatham S, Hardy LJ, Higginson I, Thurlow J, Schofield P. Generational diversity among postgraduate doctors in training in the NHS: protocol for a qualitative study. BMJ Open. 2025 May 7;15(5):e097320. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-097320.

  PMID: 40341154 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Focus Groups

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Data Collection; Epidemiologic Methods; Investigative Techniques; Health Care Evaluation Mechanisms; Quality of Health Care; Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation; Public Health; Environment and Public Health

Study Officials

• Matthew A Boissaud-Cooke, MBChB MRCS

  NHS England South West, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Matthew A Boissaud-Cooke, MBChB MRCS

CONTACT

01752437339; matthew.boissaud-cooke@nhs.net

Jane Thurlow, MBChB FRCA

CONTACT

jane.thurlow@nhs.net

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: OTHER
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 31, 2024
• First Posted: June 6, 2024
• Study Start: August 1, 2024
• Primary Completion: October 1, 2024
• Study Completion: February 1, 2025
• Last Updated: June 21, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share