Читать книгу A Guide to the Scientific Career - Группа авторов - Страница 71

There is a huge range of interests and aptitudes among physicians, which influences their choices from a diverse field of specialties including primary care, surgery, psychiatry, public health, and more. Goldacre et al. (2012) conducted a study on doctors who considered but did not pursue specific clinical specialties as careers. Graduates in 2002, 2005, and 2008 from all UK medical schools were included in the study one year after qualification. According to the results of this study, 2573 of 9155 respondents (28%) had seriously considered, but not pursued, a specialty field. The issue of “work‐life balance” was the single‐most common factor, particularly for women, in not pursuing a specialty. Competition for positions, difficult examinations, stressful working conditions, and poor training were reported as minor concerns. Unusual work hours – deemed unsocial hours – and excessive on‐call hours were suggested to be more important determining factors in exclusion of certain specialties by the doctors. However, in some specialties, working unusual or excessive hours are unavoidable. It should be considered by workforce planners, health service administrators, and senior medical professionals that the intensity of working hours will dissuade some doctors from specializing. The study concluded that any approach to policy changes must address the imperatives of service needed, the importance of continuity of patient care, and the quality of training and learning experiences for doctors (Goldacre et al. 2012).

In a different study by Leigh et al. (2002), career satisfaction across 33 specialties among 12 474 US physicians was analyzed. It was suggested that geriatric internal medicine, neonatal‐perinatal medicine, dermatology, and pediatrics were all significantly more satisfying than family medicine. The researchers noted a nonlinear relationship between age, income, and satisfaction among surveyed physicians. Increased work hours were found to be associated with dissatisfaction reported by all specialties. A follow‐up study published by Leigh et al. (2009) supported the original findings and established a trend: Doctors who practice family medicine reported less job satisfaction than their peers.