Who wants to quit their job? – A survey among Swiss Internal Medicine physicians.

Isa Egger, Lena Woodtli, Sven Streit, Christine Baumgartner, Christa Nater, Jeanne Moor

Keywords: physician job attrition, Internal Medicine physicians, work-life balance, workplace inclusiveness

Background:

The European healthcare sector has a shortage in physicians. Similarly, Swiss studies suggest that the Swiss Internal Medicine (IM) workforce is predicted to be reduced by 44% in 10 years. Strategies to better retain medical professionals in the workforce in IM must rely on an in-depth understanding of factors associated with wanting to quit their job.

Research questions:

We investigated sex-specific associations of workplace-related and personal factors associated with wanting to quit work among Swiss IM physicians.

Method:

In a cross-sectional questionnaire among physicians working in IM in Switzerland, we assessed demographics, workplace-related and personal factors in association with the desire to quit work. The outcome variable of wanting to quit work was dichotomized from a 6-point Likert scale. We performed sex-stratified analyses by multiple logistic regression adjusting for demographic variables.

Results:

This study included 682 physicians, 278 (41%) men and 404 (59%) women aged 37±11 years (mean ± standard deviation). Overall, a desire to quit their job was prevalent in 33% of respondents of either sex. Lack of the following workplace-related factors was associated with the desire to quit work in both sexes: having a good network, mentoring or supervisor’s support, satisfaction with autonomy at work, workplace inclusiveness and a good work-life balance. Furthermore, perceived gender-related discrimination at work and a pathological Physician Well-Being Index was associated with wanting to quit work. A key sex differences among personal factors was that men (but not women) who reported having no adequate childcare were more likely to desire to quit work compared to those who reported having adequate childcare.

Conclusions:

A supportive and inclusive work environment might be an important step to retain IM physicians in their job. Furthermore, attrition may be addressed by an improved compatibility of work and private life.

Points for discussion:

What experiences are there in other European countries of methods interventions to keep physicians in the workforce?

How does your work environment support you in your occupation?

#146