Army family physician satisfaction

B. W. Blount, B. M. LeClair, W. F. Miser, D. L. Maness, W. A. Schirner, G. F. Weightman, R. Jones

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Army family physicians are quite satisfied with being both family physicians and military officers. The above analysis bears out the results of the logistic regression analysis, which found that the most important factors in explaining Army family physicians' satisfaction were rank and the percentage of time spent in patient care. Most of the other parameters found to be significant can all be linked to rank or patient care time. Those family physicians who like the Army the most are the ones most likely to stay in, and thus they have greater age, higher rank, greater administrative responsibility, and a longer time since medical school. An interesting question posed by the above analysis is whether the physicians who succeed and are satisfied are those best suited for family practice beforehand. Another question to answer is how to make seeing patients more satisfying for Army family physicians. If seeing and caring for patients is a physician's primary task and responsibility, the organization should reward the behavior that does that. The research described here is exploratory. It is not conclusive and is not generalizable to civilian family physicians and probably not to those in other military services or in other Army specialties. We analyzed only certain factors, and there could be a missed variable(s) that explains satisfaction much better. Until that variable is found, one can use the results of this study to review how the Army as an organization meets the satisfaction needs of its family physicians and helps to create those needs through its formal and informal reward systems.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)501-505
Number of pages5
JournalMilitary medicine
Volume160
Issue number10
StatePublished - Jan 1 1995
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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