Career satisfaction among acute care resident physicians in Japan

With the introduction of the new national board certification system, sustainable education of acute care physicians has become an important topic. Prior surveys have addressed the job satisfaction of young acute care physicians. However, there have been limited nationwide surveys. The purpose of this study was to investigate the career satisfaction of senior acute care resident physicians, and to identify factors affecting their career satisfaction.

An anonymous multiple-choice questionnaire was administered to candidates at the national board examination in 2018 regarding their career satisfaction. Data were analyzed with factor analysis and multivariable analysis with a logistic regression model to identify factors affecting career satisfaction.

There were 427 respondents and the response rate was 98.2%. There were 332 male respondents (80.8%). Factors that correlated with career satisfaction were training systems, working conditions, personal learning, and stress-related factors. High job satisfaction was found in 137 (36.6%) of the respondents. Logistic regression analysis showed that the factors significantly associated with high job satisfaction were: training systems (odds ratio [OR] 2.18; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.43-3.33), working conditions (OR 1.78; 95% CI, 1.25-2.53), and personal learning (OR 1.55; 95% CI, 1.02-2.36). There was no significant correlation between high career satisfaction and intention to switch to another specialty.

High job satisfaction in senior acute care residents requires the development of a teaching environment, an optimized work environment, and encouragement of personal learning.