Doctors: their satisfaction as patients or when treating another doctor. Comparison with the general population in Venezuela: a pilot study.
El médico: su satisfacción como paciente o como tratante de otro médico. Comparación con la población general en Venezuela: estudio piloto.
Abstract
The way in which physicians manage their health and that of their families and colleagues is an issue of practical and humanistic value. However, there are few published studies on these topics, and discussion is often based on anecdotes. We determined the level of satisfaction of physicians when treating a colleague and, in turn, when they became patients in Mérida, Venezuela, We additionally, evaluated the satisfaction with the medical attention in subjects from the general population (PG). The variable under study was analyzed in three levels: 1) positive opinion or satisfaction; 2) neutral opinion and 3) negative opinion or dissatisfaction. The answers’ temporal frame referred to the opinion ‘in general’ and in ‘the last occasion’ that the respondents referred when provided or received medical assistance. We obtained a probabilistic sample of 52 specialists and 84 residents, and 494 subjects from the GP. All subjects answered a self-administered questionnaire, whose psychometric assessment showed a content validity coefficient of 0.82, which qualifies as ‘good’. All the subjects reported their satisfaction as patients, and the physicians also reported their satisfaction level when treating other physicians. Male specialists reported the highest dissatisfaction frequencies in the personal attitudes toward them, of the physicians that they treated (28.6%, p = 0.05-0.1) and their performance as treating physicians (7.1%, p >0.05). Similarly, the male specialists (38.4-42.9%, p <0.05) reported the highest dissatisfaction frequencies as patients.
Female residents, compared to all the physicians, reported the lowest dissatisfaction levels as providers or recipient of medical attention, but the figures did not reach statistical significance. The GP masculine group reported lower dissatisfaction levels than the physicians as a group (6.6%, p <0.05). We conclude that a significant proportion of physicians, particularly male specialists, are dissatisfied in their roles of treating physicians of another colleague and are also dissatisfied as patients. Ad hoc programs of professional education should be designed to modify this important health issue, which could be even more important during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
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