GPs' job satisfaction: Doctors who chose general practice early or late

摘要

In theirstudy on GPs'job satisfaction Lambert et al."' describe the feeling of GPs 1-10 years after graduation. The authors conclude that the level of job satisfaction was generally high among both late and early choosers. Most GPs turn to general practice after initially preferring another speciality at the beginning of their career and the majority will have a satisfying career. To understand the factors behind their choice, we questioned 198 students' in the Faculty of Toulouse (South-West France) about their reasons for choosing general practice. The result of our survey was that a GP career was chosen for its diversity and the doctor-patient relationship, with the fact that it is a speciality often held in low esteem being the main obstacle. 37.5% [n = 74] had hesitated between general practice and another medical speciality, 66% [n = 131] said that general practice was their first choice.