Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.To collect a large amount of information about medical students, with particular emphasis upon details of their cultural activities and their political and ethical views. The intention was to discover any correlations between these activities. Data were collected about attitudes towards general practice and career preferences, as well as standard demographic data.Main Topics:Attitudinal/Behavioural Questions Whether either of respondent's parents are doctors, Registrar-General's socio-economic class to which father's occupation belongs, relationship between father's and grandfather's social class. Whether parents positively influenced subject's decision to study medicine, possible alternative courses. Whether break taken between school and university, whether break recommended, main activity during this time. Occupation before beginning medical course (where appropriate). Frequency of experience as a hospital in-patient, experience of general anaesthetic, intention to register with the General Medical Council, intention to emigrate/practise in an under-developed country, future plans after qualifying, scope of present medical knowledge. Opinions on a variety of statements and questions about the medical profession are investigated and medical decisions involving judgement on ethical and moral grounds are explored. Opinions about general practitioners and medical courses are also collected. Hours spent studying/playing sport/watching TV/in the pub/at hobbies per week. Frequency of visits to classical and popular cultural events (including museums and art galleries), frequency of party-going, number of non-medical books read per year, newspapers/magazines read regularly. Respondents were asked to indicate which of a list of authors he/she had read. Countries visited. Background Variables Age, sex, marital status, number of siblings, home region, type of school attended, O level/A level subjects...