• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

Female doctors more stressed than their male counterparts

Physician Practice Advisor, May 18, 2005

Nationwide, female docs work at least as hard as their male counterparts; however, they face more on-the-job pressure from patients, according to researchers at the universities of Wisconsin at Madison and North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The 6,100 male and female doctors surveyed, covering multiple specialties, reported feeling strong time pressure with patients. Yet, women doctors allotted five minutes less per new patient than male physicians. Because of the lack of time for new patients, female physicians felt care was compromised somewhat, and that boosted stress levels.

According to a news release issued by the University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill, the study found:

• Time pressure was the single most important predictor of doctor satisfaction.
  
• Women reported less control over such workplace issues as office schedules, referring physician contacts, and hospitalizing patients.
  
• Women physicians had 1.5 times the odds of reporting burnout, compared with male physicians.
  
• Satisfaction with health maintenance organization practice was lower overall than with many other practice types.
  
• Women doctors reported feeling less healthy than their male colleagues.

Researchers revealed findings from the 1997 Physician Worklife Study at the April Society of General Internal Medicine's annual meeting in Chicago.

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive