Background: Physicians need a professional environment that is conducive to efficient and satisfying work. Little has been published about the effect of work structure on the satisfaction that family physicians derive from their work.
Objectives: To assess the structure and the positive and negative job components of family physicians in Israel, as well as the effect of these components on their satisfaction with their work.
Methods: A questionnaire was sent to a random selection of members of the Israel Society of Family Physicians (n=225).
Results: Altogether 183 questionnaires were returned. Specialist family doctors, practice medical directors and salaried doctors were involved in more activities than non-specialist doctors, trainees and self-employed doctors. Overall satisfaction was highest for specialists and lowest for non-specialists. Work overload, insufficient resources and abundant paperwork were most frequently cited as negative work components. The opportunity to utilize medical knowledge, challenging work and work variety scored highest as positive components.
Conclusions: The more professionally active physicians were also the more satisfied. Clinical work and teaching provided the most satisfaction, while administrative work and lack of time were the main causes of dissatisfaction.
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* This article is dedicated to the memory of our dear friend, Dr. michael Herz, who contributed to the writing of it.