Psychiatry/Medicine: A Comparison of Factors in Resident Role Satisfaction

Abstract

A survey of residents of the various elements in their training that contribute to role satisfaction was constructed and given to 31 psychiatric residents at a university training program, and to 69 medical residents at the same institution. The psychiatric residents were older and more likely to be female than their internal medicine counterparts. Psychiatric residents were more concerned about outpatient education and less concerned about the work involved than the internal medicine residents. The two groups differed on the importance attributed to the socio-demographic class of patients. The results are discussed in terms of factors contributing to specialty choice selection and also in terms of stress factors operating on residents in different types of training.