Background:
The number of hospitalists in the United States continues to grow rapidly, yet little is known about the work life of hospitalists to inform whether hospital medicine is a viable long‐term career for physicians.
Methods:
A national random stratified sample of 3105 potential hospitalists plus 662 hospitalist employees of 3 multistate hospitalist companies were administered the Hospital Medicine Physician Worklife Survey. The survey assessed demographic information, 2 global dimensions of satisfaction (job and specialty), and 10 satisfaction domains: workload, compensation, care quality, organizational fairness, autonomy, availability of personal time, and relationships with colleagues, staff, patients, and leader. Differences in satisfaction by sex, specialty, age, and experience were sought using bivariate and multivariate regression analyses. The relationships between the 2 global satisfaction measures and their satisfaction domains were examined. The prevalence of burnout symptoms and their relationship with longevity were explored.
Results:
After excluding ineligible surveyees, 776 hospitalist responses from the sample (adjusted response rate, 25.6%) were analyzed together with 40 hospitalist responses from the sponsoring organizations. Thirty‐four percent of respondents were women, and 7.1% were pediatricians. Among the satisfaction domains, hospitalists rated care quality and relationships with staff and colleagues highest, whereas compensation, organizational climate, autonomy, and availability of personal time were rated relatively low. In adjusted analysis, care quality was most highly correlated with job satisfaction (R = 0.302), whereas personal time was most highly correlated with specialty satisfaction (R = 0.295). Satisfaction with compensation was correlated the least with both job and specialty satisfaction. Women and pediatricians were more satisfied with the specialty than their counterparts. Job burnout symptoms were reported by 29.9% of respondents, who were more likely to leave and reduce work effort.
Conclusions:
The majority of hospitalists appear to be engaged in sustainable careers, but domains that appear to drive job and specialty satisfaction warrant institutional attention to minimize burnout and attrition of hospitalists.
Disclosures:
K. Hinami ‐ Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, employee; C. T. Whelan ‐ Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, employee; R. J. Wolosin ‐ Press Ganey Associates, employee; J. A. Miller ‐ Society of Hospital Medicine, employee; T. B. Wetterneck ‐ University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, employee