A Phenomenological Investigation of Physician Job Satisfaction in Rural Integrated Primary Care
Year: 2012
Type: article
Abstract: The job satisfaction of rural primary care physicians is of import given the crucial role these physicians play in rural health care systems and their consistent decline in numbers nationwide. The professional isolation of practicing in rural areas, particularly in accessing specialty care, creates greater burdens for rural physicians than their more urban counterparts, which likely contributes to their low level of job satisfaction. The shortage of mental health providers in rural areas in particular is thought to create a burden for rural primary care physicians, who generally neither have the time, training, nor expertise to adequately deal with complex mental health difficulties. Thus, integrated primary care—the provision of mental health services in the clinical flow of primary care medicine through the employment of behavioral health consultants—might reasonably improve rural physician satisfaction. Due perhaps to the novelty of this practice in rural primary care clinics, little research has examined this idea. This study uses a qualitative methodology—interpretive phenomenological analysis—to explore how rural physicians in integrated primary care settings experienced this innovative practice. Connections of this practice to physician job satisfaction are discussed, as are the implications toward facilitating this service in rural primary care practices. Limitations of this study are considered and directions for future research suggested. This research concludes with a personal reflection on my experience as a trainee in a rural integrated primary care clinic.
Author: Jacob Brendan Austin
Institution: Antioch University
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W124968464