General physician job satisfaction in public and private sectors

Physician job satisfaction has an important role not only in personal contentment of doctors but also in quality of health care delivery. Medical career satisfaction is a multi-dimensional issue and since general physicians constitute more than 40% of health professionals in our country, in this study job satisfaction according to different job and demographic characteristics of general physicians has been assessed. In this stratified-cross sectional study, 661 general physicians assessed according to a self administered questionnaire with 12 demographic and 74 job satisfaction questions consisted of 14 domains. Data collected in three seminars held by medical council of Islamic republic of Iran in 1391, in Tehran. 47.5% of general physicians were female and 51% were working in private sector. 47.8% of physicians were satisfied with their jobs. Doctors who were 35 years old or more, had number of patients less than 30 per day and working hours less than 44 per week showed higher job satisfaction (p value< 0.001). Older physicians, more experienced doctors and those who are working in private sectors have higher job satisfaction. Job satisfaction declines with increasing in number of working hours and patients.