PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Deshpande, Satish P.
AU  - DeMello, Jim
TI  - An Empirical Investigation of Factors Influencing Career Satisfaction of Primary Care Physicians
AID  - 10.3122/jabfm.2010.06.100075
DP  - 2010 Nov 01
TA  - The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
PG  - 762--769
VI  - 23
IP  - 6
4099  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/23/6/762.short
4100  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/23/6/762.full
SO  - J Am Board Fam Med2010 Nov 01; 23
AB  - Background: The purpose of this study was to examine factors that influence career satisfaction of 3 types of primary care physicians (PCPs): internal medicine (IM) physicians, family/general medicine (FGM) physicians, and pediatricians.Methods: This was a secondary analysis of the Center for Studying Health System Change's 2008 Health Tracking Physician Survey. Regression analysis was done to examine the impact of environmental-, practice quality–, compensation-, and demographic-related factors on career satisfaction of IM physicians (n = 504), FGM physicians (n = 693), and pediatricians (n = 363).Results: Nineteen percent of PCPs have been practicing for ≥30 years. Pediatricians had the highest career satisfaction. Although the threat of malpractice lawsuits significantly lowered career satisfaction (β = −0.177, −0.153, and −0.146), patient interaction (β = 0.242, 0.321, and 0.346) and income (β = 0.132, 0.151, and 0.170) significantly increased career satisfaction of IM physicians, FGM physicians, and pediatricians, respectively. Ownership significantly lowered career satisfaction of IM physicians and pediatricians (β = −0.168 and −0.114, respectively). Inadequate quality care significantly lowered career satisfaction of pediatricians (β = −0.102). The 3 regression models accounted for only 16% (IM physicians), 17% (FGM physicians), and 21% (pediatricians) of the variance in career satisfaction.Conclusions: Steps like giving adequate time for interaction with patients, reducing potential threats of malpractice lawsuits, and improving income may increase PCPs’ career satisfaction.