Levels Of Career Satisfaction Research Articles

Thoracic surgery workforce: snapshot at the end of the twentieth century and implications for the new millennium

Background. An appropriately sized physician workforce is an essential component for healthcare planning. Contemporary economic forces and the impact of managed care have stimulated renewed interest in understanding and monitoring workforce issues. Methods. Between August and December of 1999, the Workforce Committee of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery and The Society of Thoracic Surgeons conducted a survey detailing demographic, geographic, and socioeconomic practice characteristics of the membership. Results. The 2,515 returned surveys represented a 62.6% return rate (± 1.6% margin of error), providing a highly statistically valid sample. Active thoracic surgeons are a mean of 50 years old, 98% men, with a high level of career satisfaction. Length of training and educational debt has been escalating. Adult cardiac surgical case volumes have increased (mean, 225 cases) and 52% of adult cardiac surgeons perform general thoracic procedures. Surgeons work 67 hours/week and 47 weeks/year. Most are organized in single specialty groups (50%) in urban areas (59%) as for-profit corporations (77%). Half of the respondents will be retired a mean of 13 years from now corresponding to a median calendar year of 2011. Conclusions. This survey highlights significant workforce retirement during the next 10 to 15 years. Currently, the workforce in thoracic surgery appears “right sized.” These valuable data provide a profile of the specialty. The information enhances our ability to strategically plan.

Mathematically facile adolescents with math-science aspirations: New perspectives on their educational and vocational development.

This longitudinal study tracked 1,110 adolescents identified as mathematically precocious at Age 13 (top 1%) with plans for a mathscience undergraduate major. Participants’ high school educational experiences, abilities, and interests predicted whether their attained undergraduate degrees were within mathscience or nonmathnonscience areas. More women than men eventually completed undergraduate degrees outside mathscience, but many individuals who completed nonmathnonscience degrees ultimately chose mathscience occupations (and vice versa). At Age 33, the 2 degree groups reported commensurate and uniformly high levels of career satisfaction, success, and life satisfaction. Assessing individual differences is critical for modeling talent development and life satisfaction; it reveals that equal male–female representation across disciplines may not be as simple to accomplish as many policy discussions imply. The male–female disparity in math and science is well documented and is particularly apparent at rising levels along the educationalvocational continuum (Lane, 1999; Lawler, 1999,

Time Is of the Essence

Time Is of the Essence

Managed Care, Professional Autonomy, and Income. Effects on Physician Career Satisfaction

CONTEXT: Career satisfaction among physicians is a topic of importance to physicians in practice, physicians in training, health system administrators, physician organization executives, and consumers. The level of career satisfaction derived by physicians from their work is a basic yet essential element in the functioning of the health care system. OBJECTIVE: To examine the degree to which professional autonomy, compensation, and managed care are determinants of career satisfaction among physicians. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis using data from 1996–97 Community Tracking Study physician telephone survey. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: A nationally representative sample of 12,385 direct patient care physicians. The survey response rate was 65%. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Overall career satisfaction among U.S. physicians. RESULTS: Bivariate results show that physicians with low managed care revenues are significantly more likely to be “very satisfied” than are physicians with high managed care revenue (P<.05), and that physicians with low managed care revenues are significantly more likely to report higher levels of clinical freedom than are physicians with high managed care revenue (P<.05). Multivariate analyses demonstrate that, among our measures, traditional core professional values and autonomy are the most important determinants of career satisfaction after controlling for all other factors. Relative income is also an important independent predictor. Multiple dimensions of professional autonomy hold up as strong, independent predictors of career satisfaction, while the effect of managed care does not. Managed care appears to exert its effect on satisfaction through its impact on professional autonomy, not through income reduction. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that when managed care (or other influences) erode professional autonomy, the result is a highly negative impact on physician career satisfaction.

Managed care, professional autonomy, and income: effects on physician career satisfaction.

Career satisfaction among physicians is a topic of importance to physicians in practice, physicians in training, health system administrators, physician organization executives, and consumers. The level of career satisfaction derived by physicians from their work is a basic yet essential element in the functioning of the health care system. To examine the degree to which professional autonomy, compensation, and managed care are determinants of career satisfaction among physicians. Cross-sectional analysis using data from 1996-97 Community Tracking Study physician telephone survey. A nationally representative sample of 12,385 direct patient care physicians. The survey response rate was 65%. Overall career satisfaction among U.S. physicians. Bivariate results show that physicians with low managed care revenues are significantly more likely to be "very satisfied" than are physicians with high managed care revenue (P < .05), and that physicians with low managed care revenues are significantly more likely to report higher levels of clinical freedom than are physicians with high managed care revenue (P < .05). Multivariate analyses demonstrate that, among our measures, traditional core professional values and autonomy are the most important determinants of career satisfaction after controlling for all other factors. Relative income is also an important independent predictor. Multiple dimensions of professional autonomy hold up as strong, independent predictors of career satisfaction, while the effect of managed care does not. Managed care appears to exert its effect on satisfaction through its impact on professional autonomy, not through income reduction. Our results suggest that when managed care (or other influences) erode professional autonomy, the result is a highly negative impact on physician career satisfaction.

What satisfies us today?

For 25 years, I have directed organizations that help the needy and employ social workers, educators, counselors, and psychologists. In the past 5 years, newer workers in their late 20s and early 30s have been approaching me in greater numbers than before to complain about how unhappy they are with their salaries and why they may leave their helping profession. I tell them I recognize that the $33,500 starting salary for master's degree employees to live in New York City is low. But I add, as I always have, that they should feel compensated by the good they achieve. I tell them that that is what allowed me to find satisfaction in practicing law in Harlem in the 1970s while earning substantially less than my fellow Georgetown Law School graduates. But this advice no longer satisfies the new workers, who complain about the cost of living, how the gap has grown significantly between what their friends with graduate degrees in business earn and what they can, and why when I entered the nonprofit sector, society encouraged helping but now emphasizes economic and material success. In a 1992 study of more than 3,000 volunteers, I found that people who helped others regularly—meaning weekly—enjoyed less stress and experienced a greater sense of self-worth compared with those who volunteered only once a year.1 I reported that burnout—a range of symptoms resulting from stress and feeling out of control that can lead to emotional and physical exhaustion—was reduced when helping professionals aided their patients or clients in a different or extra way. This additional helping enhanced self-esteem and restored idealism as antidotes to daily stress and the feelings of burnout. Other studies have come to similar conclusions. In 1999, Schwartz and Sender looked at patients with multiple sclerosis, having 1 group provide telephone support to the other, and then followed their health for 3 years. Helpers had less depression and fatigue and greater self-esteem than nonhelpers.2 Those who helped others had a reduced awareness of their pain and discomfort. A 1992 study of persons older than 60 years who provided informal support to others—delivering meals, chauffeuring—found that helpers had less depression and a greater sense of personal control than nonhelpers.3 Also in 1992, a study of women's health found that women who had many roles in life enjoyed better health than those who did not—but only if 1 of those roles included volunteering.4 Helping others appears to reduce personal discomfort by replacing the thoughts that cause stress—problems at work or other parts of life—with the self-enhancing good feelings received when helpers have personal contact with those they help and do this helping regularly. Physicians who treat homeless patients, for example, report high levels of career satisfaction despite the low fees received. A stress buffer for helping professionals is critical in today's society, which not only challenges many aspects of medical practice, but also sees younger people earning less generally. People between the ages of 35 and 44 years, for example, after inflation earn 9% less than their counterparts 25 years ago. Modern society judges success in materialistic terms. Today's pressures have changed social thinking. A recent study of Israeli mothers showed that 40% wanted their children to go into high-tech industry jobs compared with 15% who wanted them to become physicians.5 Perhaps medical schools, which require students to sacrifice so much, should set aside some time in the curriculum to explain what produces job satisfaction. Young physicians can be unique role models for other professionals, who come to respect that the physicians' work combines analytic thinking, a strong need for peer recognition, and a desire to help others. If more young physicians chose to set aside some part of their practice to helping the needy, they would be improving their own job satisfaction and setting a valuable example. Physicians, who have been taken to task at times for being too concerned with high fees, ironically have an ability to reduce their own job stress and that of many of their critics.

Characteristics of female obstetrician-gynecologists in the United States

Objective: To describe characteristics of United States female obstetrician-gynecologists, a large and growing group, and to contrast them with other female physicians. Methods: We contrasted data from 313 obstetrician-gynecologists to data from 4132 other female physician respondents to the Women Physicians’ Health Study, a national questionnaire-based study. Results: Obstetrician-gynecologists assumed fewer domestic responsibilities, reported higher personal and household incomes, and were more likely to be in a group practice than other female physicians. Female obstetrician-gynecologists’ personal health behaviors and other personal characteristics, career satisfaction, and desire to remain in their specialty were similar to those of other female physicians. Obstetrician-gynecologists did more counseling and screening than primary care physicians (family and general practitioners and internists) with respect to breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Obstetrician-gynecologists performed equivalently to primary care physicians with respect to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), colorectal cancer, blood pressure, weight, exercise, and smoking, performed like other specialists with respect to cholesterol, skin cancer, and flu vaccine, and between these two groups with respect to nutrition and alcohol. Obstetrician-gynecologists’ perceived relevance of, training in, and confidence regarding counseling were higher for HRT and breast cancer compared with other physicians. Conclusion: Obstetrician-gynecologists have many similarities with other female physicians, including level of career satisfaction, but earned more and assumed fewer domestic responsibilities. Although obstetrician-gynecologists counseled more than other specialists, with the increasing role of obstetrician-gynecologists as primary care doctors, it is noteworthy that female obstetrician-gynecologists frequently provide gynecologic-specific preventive care, but are less likely to address other non-obstetric-gynecologic areas of prevention. This finding could be transformed by continued changes in the education of residents and practicing physicians.

Career satisfaction among psychiatrists in Texas.

We examined present and anticipated future levels of career satisfaction among psychiatrists in the greater Houston area. We gathered data by means of an anonymous questionnaire. The strongest univariate correlations between background variables and current and anticipated future levels of career satisfaction were found with age, years in practice, and source of professional income. Major threats to the quality of psychiatric practice were identified as changes in third-party reimbursement/managed care, competition from nonphysician mental health practitioners, and the national economy. Psychiatrists least satisfied with their current careers and most pessimistic about the future were found to be older with more years' experience and deriving their professional income chiefly from private practice. Much of their dissatisfaction appeared to relate to changes in third-party reimbursement/managed care and increasing competition from nonphysician mental health professionals.

The Managerial Plateau: What Helps in Developing Careers?

Plateauing is generally assumed to be problematic for organizations, with plateaued managers less satisfied with their careers than non‐plateaued managers. Reports on the findings of a survey conducted to find out whether there were any significant differences in levels of career satisfaction between plateaued and non‐plateaued managers. The sample was 248 managers from the UK Postal Delivery Organization – Royal Mail. Further analysis was undertaken comparing managers at different grades and between the sexes, and at differences in levels of satisfaction in the groups in their ability to manage their own career.

Factors Associated with Job and Career Satisfaction Among Dental Hygienists

Information concerning dental hygienists' job and career satisfaction is dated and incomplete. Because satisfaction may be important in retention of dental hygienists, a survey of all active dental hygienists in private practices in North Carolina was performed to ascertain dimensions and levels of job and career satisfaction, as well as factors associated with these constructs. Of 2,099 eligible hygienists, 51 percent responded to a survey instrument containing 202 items addressing overall satisfaction, as well as satisfaction with a variety of work-related factors. Factor analysis was used to develop scales for job and career satisfaction, and for the work-related factors. Final reduced regression models indicated that the constructs of job and career satisfaction are separate and that each has distinct general and intrinsic dimensions. Models for general job and career satisfaction had R2 values of .45 and .27, respectively, and included a variety of work-related factors such as supervisory style and satisfaction with salary. Models for intrinsic job and career satisfaction were not as strong, with R2 values of .06 and .09, respectively. These models also included work-related factors such as satisfaction with hours of work, office safety arrangements, and supervisory style. These results suggest that general job and career satisfaction levels should be amenable to change through management interventions.

A Survey Tool, Retrenchment Blues and a Career Alternatives Program

Two-thirds of the faculty of Canadian universities will reach the traditional retirement age of 65 between the years 2000 to 2010. As a result there will be little academic or financial flexibility for at least another decade. A questionnaire is presented as a tool for measuring the personal and professional characteristics of this age group with respect to three considerations: (1) their level of career satisfaction, (2) their interest in a career alternatives program, and (3) their plans to retire either before or by the age of 65 or to continue to work after 65 if mandatory retirement is abolished. A significant proportion of academic faculty are no longer finding satisfaction in their academic work and would consider an alternative career if that were feasible. Those who are not interested in leaving academic life early tend to be happy and productive. A career alternatives program could be an effective way to begin the renewal process within higher education now, not after the year 2000.