Factors impacting career satisfaction of hospitalists.

A study was undertaken to examine various factors that impact career satisfaction of hospitality. This study used data collected by the Center for Studying Health System Change's 2008 Health Tracking Physician survey. The 2008 HTP data set consisted of 4720 physicians belonging to the American Medical Association, of which 206 identified themselves as hospitalists. Results suggested that 41% of hospitalists were very satisfied with their careers in medicine. More than 26% of the hospitalists were 53 years or older. Seven of 10 hospitalists were men, whereas more than 55% were white. In addition, an average respondent earned between $150 000 and $200 000. Nearly 36% of the hospitalists in the study specialized in internal medicine. Regression analysis indicates that high-quality care had a highly significant impact on career satisfaction of hospitalists (P ≤ .00). In addition, formal written guidelines (P ≤ .07), gender (P ≤ .06), and white race (P ≤ .07) also had a significant impact on career satisfaction of hospitalists. It was concluded that perceived quality of care, presence of formal written guidelines, gender, and race were major predictors of career satisfaction of hospitalists.