Satisfaction with practices: emergency physicians versus internists.

No comparison has been made of satisfaction with practices of emergency physicians versus other specialists. We used a previously tested questionnaire that measures differences between current and preferred practice conditions, and with items regarding training and practice, and intention to change positions. It was sent to 250 physicians practicing emergency medicine and 250 practicing internal medicine in a metropolitan area. Both specialty types were defined by type of practice, rather than by specialty training or board certification. Ninety-five (38%) emergency physicians and 79 (32%) internists responded. Factor and correlation analyses identified six satisfaction indexes: resources, professional autonomy, administrative autonomy, patient relationships, professional relationships, and status. Physicians practicing emergency medicine were less satisfied, that is, reported more difference between current and preferred conditions, than physicians practicing internal medicine with professional autonomy, patient relations, and status (by t tests, P less than .01 for each). Emergency physicians were more satisfied with professional relationships (P less than .01). Only 40% of emergency physicians, versus 60% of internists, reported no intention to leave their present position within the next two years (P less than .02). Expectation of position change by physicians practicing emergency medicine was predicted by dissatisfaction with professional autonomy, lack of board certification, recency of graduation from medical school, and belief that monetary compensation would be higher elsewhere (R square, 0.35; P less than .01), while variables such as patient load, hours worked per week, and hospital size proved unimportant. We identified areas of dissatisfaction among emergency physicians that differed from those among internists.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)