Gender differences in general practitioners at work

Abstract

Background. The proportion of female general practitioners is steadily increasing. Aim. To compare male and female general practitioners with respect to their job satisfaction and professional commitments within and outside their practices. Method. A questionnaire was sent to all 896 general practitioner principals with patients in Staffordshire in 1994. The main elements were: job satisfaction (on a five-point scale) from eight possible sources; whether personal responsibility was taken for 12 different practice tasks; and professional commitments outside the practice. Results. A total of 620 (69%) general practitioners responded. Female doctors derived more satisfaction than male doctors from relationships with patients (P = 0.002). Female doctors were more likely to be working in training practices, and were likely to be on-call less and to work fewer sessions. Male general practitioners were more likely to take lead responsibility for practice computers, minor surgery, meeting external visitors and finance, whereas female practitioners were more likely to be responsible for looking after women patients' health. Conclusion. Considerable differences were found between male and female general practitioners. These differences are likely to have an increasing impact as the percentage of female general practitioners continues to rise.