Job Satisfaction among Family Medicine Providers in Alexandria, Egypt

Job satisfaction of the family physician is a critical factor for health system because the primary health care level is responsible for providing medical care to a greater proportion than any other care level.
The aim of this study was to measure the level of job satisfaction among family medicine [FM] providers in 7 randomly selected FM units and centers in Alexandria, Egypt and to find possible associations with their characteristics. The total number of FM providers was 188 [43 family physicians, 25 specialists, 12 dentists, 16 pharmacists, and 92 nurses]. Data were collected sing a self-administered questionnaire which was consisted of two main parts: respondent’s characteristics and job satisfaction questions [global, attribute-specific questions within 9 dimensions, and open ended questions]. About 82% of FM providers were working in urban FM Facilities and three-quarters of the study sample were females. The majority [76.1%] had no postgraduate degrees and 63.3% had no training courses at all. The great majority of FM providers [95.2%] were generally satisfied with their profession and also 93.6% were satisfied with working at their facilities. The following factors were found to be independently associated with increased job satisfaction: the type of family medicine facility [family medicine centers 6 folds more] and sex [females 6 folds more]. About 90% of FM providers were satisfied with different aspects of their status. However, 40% and 25% were dissatisfied with their total pay [salary & incentives] in relation to both the assigned work and in comparison to similar positions in health institutions, respectively. Also, 37.8% were dissatisfied with their retirement benefits. Moreover, 64.4%, 42.6 & 38.8% of FM providers were dissatisfied with the amount of paper work, workload, and the amount of work hours, respectively. Also, 22.3% were dissatisfied with the opportunity to learn new skills. However, 90.4% and 83% were satisfied with their clear job description and the amount of freedom and flexibility in doing their work, respectively. It is evident that 96.8% of FM providers were satisfied with both the supplies & equipment available for practice and with the quality of the staff in the facility.