Abstract
Background: The career satisfaction and dissatisfaction physicians experience likely influence the quality of medical care. Objective: To compare career satisfaction across specialties among US physicians. Methods: We analyzed data from the Community Tracking Study of 12474 physicians (response rate, 65%) for the late 1990s. Data are cross-sectional. Two satisfaction variables were created: very satisfied and dissatisfied. Thirty-three specialty categories were analyzed. Results: After adjusting for control variables, the following specialties are significantly more likely than family medicine to be very satisfying: geriatric internal medicine (odds ratio [OR], 2.04); neonatal-perinatal medicine (OR, 1.89); dermatology (OR, 1.48); and pediatrics (OR, 1.36). The following are significantly more likely than family medicine to be dissatisfying: otolaryngology (OR, 1.78); obstetrics-gynecology (OR, 1.61); ophthalmology (OR, 1.51); orthopedics (OR, 1.36); and internal medicine (OR, 1.22). Among the control variables, we also found nonlinear relations between age and satisfaction; high satisfaction among physicians in the west north Central and New England states and high dissatisfaction in the south Atlantic, west south Central, Mountain, and Pacific states; positive associations between income and satisfaction; and no differences between women and men. Conclusions: Career satisfaction and dissatisfaction vary across specialty as well as age, income, and region. These variations are likely to be of interest to residency directors, managed care administrators, students selecting a specialty, and physicians in the groups with high satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1577-1584 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Archives of Internal Medicine |
| Volume | 162 |
| Issue number | 14 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 22 2002 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Internal Medicine
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Physician career satisfaction across specialties. / Leigh, J Paul; Kravitz, Richard L; Schembri, Mike; Samuels, Steven J.; Mobley, Shanaz.
In: Archives of Internal Medicine, Vol. 162, No. 14, 22.07.2002, p. 1577-1584.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Physician career satisfaction across specialties
AU - Leigh, J Paul
AU - Kravitz, Richard L
AU - Schembri, Mike
AU - Samuels, Steven J.
AU - Mobley, Shanaz
PY - 2002/7/22
Y1 - 2002/7/22
N2 - Background: The career satisfaction and dissatisfaction physicians experience likely influence the quality of medical care. Objective: To compare career satisfaction across specialties among US physicians. Methods: We analyzed data from the Community Tracking Study of 12474 physicians (response rate, 65%) for the late 1990s. Data are cross-sectional. Two satisfaction variables were created: very satisfied and dissatisfied. Thirty-three specialty categories were analyzed. Results: After adjusting for control variables, the following specialties are significantly more likely than family medicine to be very satisfying: geriatric internal medicine (odds ratio [OR], 2.04); neonatal-perinatal medicine (OR, 1.89); dermatology (OR, 1.48); and pediatrics (OR, 1.36). The following are significantly more likely than family medicine to be dissatisfying: otolaryngology (OR, 1.78); obstetrics-gynecology (OR, 1.61); ophthalmology (OR, 1.51); orthopedics (OR, 1.36); and internal medicine (OR, 1.22). Among the control variables, we also found nonlinear relations between age and satisfaction; high satisfaction among physicians in the west north Central and New England states and high dissatisfaction in the south Atlantic, west south Central, Mountain, and Pacific states; positive associations between income and satisfaction; and no differences between women and men. Conclusions: Career satisfaction and dissatisfaction vary across specialty as well as age, income, and region. These variations are likely to be of interest to residency directors, managed care administrators, students selecting a specialty, and physicians in the groups with high satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
AB - Background: The career satisfaction and dissatisfaction physicians experience likely influence the quality of medical care. Objective: To compare career satisfaction across specialties among US physicians. Methods: We analyzed data from the Community Tracking Study of 12474 physicians (response rate, 65%) for the late 1990s. Data are cross-sectional. Two satisfaction variables were created: very satisfied and dissatisfied. Thirty-three specialty categories were analyzed. Results: After adjusting for control variables, the following specialties are significantly more likely than family medicine to be very satisfying: geriatric internal medicine (odds ratio [OR], 2.04); neonatal-perinatal medicine (OR, 1.89); dermatology (OR, 1.48); and pediatrics (OR, 1.36). The following are significantly more likely than family medicine to be dissatisfying: otolaryngology (OR, 1.78); obstetrics-gynecology (OR, 1.61); ophthalmology (OR, 1.51); orthopedics (OR, 1.36); and internal medicine (OR, 1.22). Among the control variables, we also found nonlinear relations between age and satisfaction; high satisfaction among physicians in the west north Central and New England states and high dissatisfaction in the south Atlantic, west south Central, Mountain, and Pacific states; positive associations between income and satisfaction; and no differences between women and men. Conclusions: Career satisfaction and dissatisfaction vary across specialty as well as age, income, and region. These variations are likely to be of interest to residency directors, managed care administrators, students selecting a specialty, and physicians in the groups with high satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
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U2 - 10.1001/archinte.162.14.1577
DO - 10.1001/archinte.162.14.1577
M3 - Article
VL - 162
SP - 1577
EP - 1584
JO - JAMA Internal Medicine
JF - JAMA Internal Medicine
SN - 2168-6106
IS - 14
ER -