No longer destined to eat their young: satisfaction among Army family practice faculty

In January 1987, all 63 faculty members at Army Family Practice Residencies received satisfaction questionnaires. Fifty-nine faculty (93.8%) responded with 40 (67.8%) being satisfied and 19 (32.2%) dissatisfied. Compared to faculty 7 years prior, these faculty are slightly older, have more practice experience, more opportunities for fellowship training, and are less likely both to have remaining mandatory military obligation and to leave the Army after 3 years. The key areas of faculty development, control over professional life, administration, and departmental goals and objectives truly discriminated satisfaction from dissatisfaction. A strategy to systematically develop potential faculty and reduce dissatisfaction is proposed.