We contacted about 800 members of CMF who from their dates of graduation might have been involved in the Medical Training Application Service process this year and invited them to take part in a questionnaire survey about their experiences, using our newly developed online facility. 101 of the 134 respondents had used MTAS.

Of that 101, 94 were offered an interview and 60 of those were offered more than one. 80 were offered jobs (31 receiving more than one offer) and all but one accepted an offer. Of those, 62 are satisfied with the specialty and the particular post, 9 are not, and 8 are not certain. Twelve accepted jobs that were not in their preferred geographical area. Sixteen would not choose medicine today; 64 would still choose it.

Asked about avenues of support during this stressful time, family came highest with 87% mentioning it; prayer came next, mentioned by 82%; then the Bible (78%); church members (72%); junior colleagues (58%); medical seniors (43%); fellow CMF juniors (29%); other CMF members (19%).

We have only just started detailed analysis of the data, but we also have qualitative data from comments in the 'free text options'. Much anger and distress was reported, but many had seen God at work. Comments about CMF's support were mixed, ranging from 'I don't feel CMF took enough care over their juniors in this issue' to 'It was good to know CMF asked members to pray and also reassuring that as an organisation, they were keeping up with the times'.