Abstract
Managed care has created more professional constraints for general internists. We surveyed 198 general internists at 12 academically affiliated practices in the greater-Boston area to examine professional satisfaction. Overall, these physicians were moderately satisfied (mean of 59.1 on a 100-point scale). Before adjustment, women had lower overall satisfaction than men, as well as poorer satisfaction with the domains of career concerns and patient access. Gender had no independent effect on satisfaction after adjustment for age, income, percentage of time providing direct patient care, work status, and site. Younger physicians also had lower overall satisfaction, and these differences remained after adjustment. Improvements in professional satisfaction may be required to ensure the continued recruitment of young physicians, particularly women, into general internal medicine.
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Supported by a grant from the Harvard Risk Management Foundation. Dr. Haas is the recipient of a Clinical Investigator Award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (1-K08-HD01029).
The Ambulatory Medicine Quality Improvement Project Investigators include: Christopher Coley, MD (Harvard University Health Services); Priscilla Dasse, RN (Harvard Risk Management Foundation); Mark Eisenberg, MD, Randy Stafford, MD (Bunker Hill Health Center); Robert Hartley, MD (Brookside Health Center); Sherry Haydock, MD (Massachusetts General Hospital); Helen Burstin, MD, Jennifer Haas, MD, Phyllis Jen, MD (Brigham and Women’s Hospital); Risa Korn, MD, Gila Kriegel, MD, Richard Parker, MD, Russell Phillips, MD (Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center); Linda Tempte, MD (Mount Auburn Hospital), Thomas Inui, MD (Harvard Pilgrim Health Care), Paul Cleary, PhD (Harvard Medical School), Troyen Brennan, MD, Ann Louise Puopolo, RN (Harvard School of Public Health).
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Haas, J.S., Cleary, P.D., Puopolo, A.L. et al. Differences in the professional satisfaction of general internists in academically affiliated practices in the greater-Boston area. J GEN INTERN MED 13, 127–130 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.1998.00030.x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.1998.00030.x