Job satisfaction among certified and non-certified general practitioners.

BACKGROUND

The aim of family medicine is to provide patients with comprehensive care within the biopsychosocial model. High job satisfaction is necessary to attract physicians to this specialty.

OBJECTIVE

To compare job satisfaction levels between primary physicians with training in family medicine and physicians without specialty training.

METHODS

A self-report questionnaire, the "Task Profiles of General Practitioners in Europe," was mailed to a stratified random sample of 664 primary care physicians in Israel. The response rate was 77.6%. Bivariate and logistic regression procedures were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

Physicians with training in family medicine were less satisfied with the rewards for their work than general practitioners with no formal specialization in family medicine. Satisfaction with the intrinsic aspects of the work was found to be equal. Women and rural physicians were more satisfied than men and urban physicians.

CONCLUSION

Measures should be taken by health maintenance organizations to increase the level of job satisfaction of specialist-certified family physicians to avoid a crisis in the profession.