Factors Influencing Desertion of Family Physicians Working in Rural Areas with Deprivation Index Less than 1.4 (Prosperous) in 2010

One of the challenging issues in family physicians program is dropping out of physicians from the program. The aim of this study was to determine factors influencing desertion of family physicians in rural areas with deprivation index less than 1. 4 (Prosperous) in 2010. This health system research was a cross-sectional study. The study covered all healthcare centers implementing family physician program as well as the physicians working within the family physician program on contracting based throughout the first half of 2010. Data were collected through directed interviews and questionnaires. Data were analyzed using the Chi-squared test in the SPSS-15. The first five reasons to giving up the program in this group of physicians included: improper payments، insufficient salary، excessive working hours، misbehaving of patients، and high patient visit loads. There was an increasing trend on dropping out of family physician program. To seize this trend، some actions could be done، including: to promote authorization for hiring family physicians، to reform the amount of payments، to ensure timely payments، to develop residency program on family physicians and dedicate an admission priority to active family physicians to enroll in the program، and finally to set a higher salary for family physicians practicing in rural areas.