Able to work in wide variety of clinical environments:

‘I just think you are in danger of operating in a small number of gears if you don’t get some training in an area of deprivation as well, you just don’t have just such a big big range.’ (GP 7, training)

‘ I would go so far as to say that if you, if you train in a practice like this, you can work anywhere, if you’ve trained in a middle-class, better off, more affluent practice, you’d struggle in a practice like this. We’ve had some evidence of that from some of the locums we’ve employed where they’ve come from, they’ve trained in a comfortable, middle-class area and they come here and it’s really, wow ...’ (GP 3, training)

Exposure to specific challenges, during training, from deprived contexts:

‘ ... but I do think that people should have exposure to both, because I’ve worked in a posh area and I’ve worked here as well, and you do change your consulting style and say different things, so I think they need to be rounded to do a bit of both.’ (GP 9, non-training)

Importance of exposure, as many medical students come from middle-class backgrounds:

‘Certainly, a lot of doctors come from a kind of stable background, they may come from slightly higher social class, em, they may not, you know, have had much exposure to the things that are going on.’ (GP 3, training)

Experience in more affluent areas important too:

‘And there are some skills in dealing with more, perhaps, articulate demanding patients, you know, we are at one end of the spectrum and to balance with the other end is probably good.’ (GP7, training)