Satisfaction at work in academic medicine revolves around the faculty members feeling valued, respected, and cared for in the work environment, according to study results published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Researchers evaluated responses to an online, cross-sectional survey to assess the overall professional satisfaction and sense of feeling valued by full-time faculty members at the Massachusetts General Hospital in the department of medicine. The survey included questions about workplace culture, respect, collegiality, satisfaction, and mentoring.

Of the 553 faculty members who responded to the study, 55.7% were men, 94% were a nonminority, 44.6% were instructors, and 77.4% had a medical degree. Multivariable analysis indicated that job satisfaction was significantly associated with feeling valued (odds ratio [OR] 4.73; 95% CI, 2.35-9.51; P <.001), feeling treated with respect (OR 3.45; 95% CI, 2.07-5.75; P <.001), and working in a social and supportive environment (OR 1.8; 95% CI, 1.05-3.09; P =.003). Feeling valued was significantly associated with feeling cared about as a person (OR 28; 95% CI, 15.3-51.3; P <.001), not feeling taken for granted (OR 4.52; 95% CI, 2.28- 8.97; P <.001), feeling resources were provided for professional growth (OR 2.38; 95% CI, 1.16-4.89; P =.02), and not feeling discriminated against by sex (OR 2.29; 95% CI, 1.02-5.16; P =.046).

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Limitations of this study include the small sample size and the fact that all participants worked at one site.

The researchers concluded, “Investment in social capital and sense of value and respect for employees may be most critical to faculty members’ satisfaction with work.”

Dr Campbell reported associations with physicians and pharmaceutical companies. Please see the original reference for a full list of authors’ disclosures.

Reference

Simpkin AL, Chang Y, Yu L, Campbell EG, Armstrong K, Walensky RP. Assessment of job satisfaction and feeling valued in academic medicine [published online May 6, 2019]. JAMA Intern Med. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.0377

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