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Le Floch B, Bastiaens H, Le Reste JY, Lingner H, Hoffman R, Czachowski S, Assenova R, Koskela TH, Klemenc-Ketis Z, Nabbe P, Sowinska A, Montier T, Peremans L. Which positive factors give general practitioners job satisfaction and make general practice a rewarding career? A European multicentric qualitative research by the European general practice research network. BMC Fam Pract 2019; 20:96. [PMID: 31395016 PMCID: PMC6688263 DOI: 10.1186/s12875-019-0985-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2018] [Accepted: 06/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND General Practice (GP) seems to be perceived as less attractive throughout Europe. Most of the policies on the subject focused on negative factors. An EGPRN research team from eight participating countries was created in order to clarify the positive factors involved in appeals and retention in GP throughout Europe. The objective was to explore the positive factors supporting the satisfaction of General Practitioners (GPs) in clinical practice throughout Europe. METHOD Qualitative study, employing face-to-face interviews and focus groups using a phenomenological approach. The setting was primary care in eight European countries: France, Belgium, Germany, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Finland, Poland and Israel. A thematic qualitative analysis was performed following the process described by Braun and Clarke. Codebooks were generated in each country. After translation and back translation of these codebooks, the team clarified and compared the codes and constructed one international codebook used for further coding. RESULTS A purposive sample of 183 GPs, providing primary care to patients in their daily clinical practice, was interviewed across eight countries. The international codebook included 31 interpretative codes and six themes. Five positive themes were common among all the countries involved across Europe: the GP as a person, special skills needed in practice, doctor-patient relationship, freedom in the practice and supportive factors for work-life balance. One theme was not found in Poland or Slovenia: teaching and learning. CONCLUSION This study identified positive factors which give GPs job satisfaction in their clinical practice. This description focused on the human needs of a GP. They need to have freedom to choose their working environment and to organize their practice to suit themselves. In addition, they need to have access to professional education so they can develop specific skills for General Practice, and also strengthen doctor-patient relationships. Stakeholders should consider these factors when seeking to increase the GP workforce.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Le Floch
- EA 7479 SPURBO, Department of General Practice, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, France.
| | - H Bastiaens
- Department of Primary and Interdisciplinary Care. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - J Y Le Reste
- EA 7479 SPURBO, Department of General Practice, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, France
| | - H Lingner
- Centre for Public Health and Healthcare, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
| | - R Hoffman
- Department of Family Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - S Czachowski
- Clinical Psychology Department, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland
| | - R Assenova
- Department of Urology and General Medicine, Department of General Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
| | - T H Koskela
- University of Tampere, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Tampere, Finland
| | - Z Klemenc-Ketis
- Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.,Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia
| | - P Nabbe
- EA 7479 SPURBO, Department of General Practice, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, France
| | - A Sowinska
- Facultad de Humanidades, Universidad Católica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile.,Escuela de Inglés, Casa Central, Angamos, 0610, Antofagasta, Chile.,Department of English, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland
| | - T Montier
- EA 7479 SPURBO, Department of General Practice, Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, France.,Unité INSERM 1078, SFR 148 ScInBioS, Université Européenne de Bretagne, Faculté de Médecine et des Sciences de la Santé, Brest, France
| | - L Peremans
- Department of Primary and Interdisciplinary Care. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.,Department of Nursing and Midwifery. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.,Mental Health and Wellbeing Research Group, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussel, Belgium
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