Healthcare is moving from a hospital based setting, to a community based environment and in the coming years there will be a huge increase in the number of GPs needed. It is anticipated that over 50% of all UK graduates will become GPs, providing comprehensive healthcare to the local community. As a result, GP training places are likely to increase in the coming years, whereas posts in surgical specialities will decrease. 

When considering which specialty you might like to pursue as your career you may wish to consider the likely competition levels and be prepared to be flexible about these choices. Some specialties have a large number of applicants per post – in some cases this can be up to 20 or 30 applicants – whilst some only have 1 application per post. The Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) website posts information on the competition ratios for the various specialties and it would be useful for you to monitor the trends for these. 

As the healthcare setting changes it will be important for you to monitor the competition ratios and research the developments and changes within your preferred specialty. Advances in technology and likely future trends including care nearer the home, personalised and preventative medicine, will affect the requirements of the different specialties. It is important to remember that whilst some specialties are more popular now, this may not necessarily be the case after you have graduated.