Was the Iranian Family Physician Program Successful in Satisfying Healthcare Team: A Study from Mashhad University of Medical Sciences?

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Head of Department of Network Development and Health Promotion, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

2 Manager of Family Physician Program in Razavi Khorasan Province, Department of Network Development and Health Promotion, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

3 MSc in Epidemiology, Expert in Family Physician Unit, Department of Network Development and Health Promotion, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

Background: Job satisfaction in healthcare team members of Iranian family physician program has been considered as an important issue. This study was aimed at determining the level of job satisfaction and its influential factors in family physician team members in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.
Methods: In this this descriptive-analytical study, 106 physicians and midwives of family physician team were randomly selected and questioned. In this study, job satisfaction questionnaire (JSS) with 5 point Likert scale was used. In addition, respondents were asked to rate their overall satisfaction with the family physician program on a scale of 20. Data were analyzed with SPSS software.
Results: More than half of family physicians (51.9%) were female. The majority of subjects (71%) aged between 25 to 36 years. Mean age of family physicians and midwives was 34.9 ± 6.4 and 32.8 ± 3.5 years respectively. The average work experience in family physicians was 48 months and 69.9 months in midwifes. The mean satisfaction score in all family physician members was 13.3 (4.1), while this score in physicians was 11.9 (4.4) and in midwives was 14.8 (3.3) that showed a significant difference between them (P < 0.001). Physicians had the highest level of satisfaction with workload and expressed the lowest satisfaction with the salary and fringe benefits. Midwives also expressed the highest level of satisfaction with cooperation and communication, and were least satisfied with salary and fringe benefits. Student t test showed a significant correlation between overall satisfaction and gender (P = 0.04), so that women were more satisfied. However, there was no significant relationship between general satisfaction and age, marital status, work experience and number of population covered (P = 0.35).
Conclusion: The findings of current study indicated that satisfaction of family physician team members from salary and management is low. It is essential for higher authorities of government and university to pay full attention to promote their job satisfaction.

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