Implications of the increasing female participation in the general practice workforce in Ireland.

Almost one in three Irish general practitioners (GPs) are now women, a ratio that has doubled since the early 1990s. The increase in numbers of women entering general practice training looks likely to continue and will have a formative influence on the future of general practice. This study investigates the implications for Irish general practice of the increasing feminization of the workforce. Questionnaires were sent to all (200) Irish vocationally trained female General Practitioners qualifying between 1995 and 2001. Sixty eight percent of respondents were currently working in full-ltime general practice. A majority wish to remain in general practice (88%) and potentially up to 90% intend to work part-time in the future. The ideal future work practices of this cohort are part-time partnerships, and over 50% are not in a position to work out of hours. To facilitate the career and working intentions of female vocationally trained GPs and to retain their services, there needs to be increased flexibility of hours of work, increased part-time partnerships and an Irish retainer scheme that will accommodate female GPs who cannot work full-time because of family commitments.