Analysis of professional identity among physicians in two tertiary public hospitals / 中华医院管理杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To probe into the present professional identity among physicians and to explore the influencing factors on identity.Methods A custom-made professional identity scale was used to study 277physicians in two public hospitals in Wuhan and Wenzhou.Results The scale consists of professional reward and recognition,professional capacity and professional significance.The total score of physicians' professional identity and that of the three dimensions were 1.89 and 1.26,2.42,2.02 respectively.Regression analysis showed that the predictors of the total score were:age,reward and penalty system,salary system,the work-family conflict (P＜0.05),and the predictors could account for 22.8％ of the variation.Those for professional reward and recognition were:Education,age,reward and penalty system,patient-doctor relationship,and income satisfaction,and the perdicators could account for 13.6％ of the variation.Those of professional significance were:age,reward and penalty system,and work-family conflict,and the predicators could account for 17.9％ of the variation.Conclusion Professional identity of physicians was found at a high level in general,yet their professional reward and recognition were found with a lower score.It is recommended to build a better hospital system for salary and reward/penalty management,improve doctor-patient relationship and minimize work-family conflict,for the purpose of raising their professional identity.