Affiliations: [a] Department of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Intermountain Healthcare, Murray, UT, USA
| [b]
University of Utah, Division of Maternal Fetal Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: Cara C. Heuser. E-mail: Cara.Heuser@imail.org.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Physician satisfaction is linked to positive patient outcomes. Mothers form an increasing fraction of the obstetrics and gynecology (ob/gyn) workforce. OBJECTIVE:Define factors that affect physician satisfaction among ob/gyn physicians who are also mothers. METHODS:We constructed and validated a Redcap survey and invited members of online ob/gyn-mom groups to participate. Characteristics of participants’ professional and personal lives were evaluated for possible association with the satisfaction outcomes. Comparison testing was performed using Chi-squared test or Fisher’s exact test for categorical variables, Student’s t-test for parametric variables, and Wilcoxon Rank-Sum test for non-parametric variables. RESULTS:Responses were received from 232 participants. A majority reported being unsatisfied with their time to spend with children (66%), partner (70%), and on personal hobbies/activites (75%). Eighty-percent rate professional morale as very/somewhat positive. Women who rated their morale as very/somewhat positive worked fewer hours per week than women with neutral/negative responses (43.6 vs 49.7, p = 0.01). Women with positive morale were also less likely to work over 50 h/week (39.5% vs 56.8%, p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS:Ob/gyn physician-mothers have high professional morale but are dissatisfied with time for extra-professional activities. Longer clinical hours correlate with dissatisfaction based on several measurements.
Keywords: Obstetrics, parent work, physician satisfaction, work hours
