Many Primary Care Physicians Unsatisfied With Profession, Survey Finds

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 20 Nov 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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Many primary care physicians are not satisfied with their profession and would not recommend medicine as a career, according to a survey released on Monday by the Physicians Foundation, Reuters/Boston Globe reports. For the survey, the Physicians Foundation, a group founded in 2003 as part of a legal settlement, mailed questionnaires to 270,000 primary care physicians and received 12,000 responses. Researchers also mailed questionnaires to 50,000 specialists.

According to the survey:

• More than 90% of primary care physicians said that they have spent an increased amount of time on nonclinical paperwork in the last three years;
  
  
• 63% said that nonclinical paperwork has caused them to spend less time with patients;
  
  
• 76% said that they work at "full capacity" or are "overextended and overworked";
  
  
• 20% said that they plan to reduce their patient load;
  
  
• 10% said that they plan to work part-time;
  
  
• 13% said that they plan to take positions without active patient care;
  
  
• 11% said they plan to retire;
  
  
• 78% said that a shortage of primary care physicians exists; and
  
  
• 60% said that they would not recommend medicine as a career.

"The survey adds to building evidence that not enough internal medicine or family practice doctors are trained or practicing" in the U.S., although "there are plenty of specialist physicians," Reuters/Globe reports.

The survey is available online.

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