This report presents the results of a national survey of medical doctors carried out in Finland in 1988. Of the 1,745 physicians who completed the questionnaires, 48 percent worked in hospitals and 39 percent worked in primary care settings. An 18‐item, 5‐point Likert scale was used to assess the professional identities of the physicians. Principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation produced the following five factors to describe the professional identities of the physicians: humanist, bureaucrat, health promoter, scientist, and healer. The five‐factor solution accounted for 60 percent of the total variance. There were marked, statistically significant differences in identity between male and female doctors as well as among hospital, primary care, and other physicians. Female physicians identified themselves more as humanists, health promoters, and bureaucrats, whereas male physicians were more likely to consider themselves healers and scientists. Primary care physicians identified themselves more as humanists and bureaucrats, whereas hospital physicians considered themselves healers and scientists. The report considers the implications of these findings for health care and the medical profession.
This study is part of the Finnish Junior Physicians 88 Study, the purpose of which was to shed light on the life situation, career choice and future plans of young doctors and their views on medical education. The survey population included all the medical doctors registered during the years 1977-1986 in Finland (n = 5208). A postal questionnaire was sent to a sample of 2632 doctors born on odd-numbered days. After a reminder letter, 1745 questionnaires (66%) were returned. Forty-nine per cent of the respondents were women. Typically both men and women doctors had a father who was an upper-level white-collar worker and a mother who was a housewife. More men than women had a father who was a doctor or other health professional. More women than men mentioned that a lifelong calling (42% vs 30%), success at school (58% vs 47%) and an interest in helping people (78% vs 71%) had considerable influence on their decision to become a doctor. Men more often than women emphasized the medical profession being regarded as a highly paid (56% vs 47%) and a high status profession (64% vs 56%) and also that a family member was a doctor (15% vs 11%).
The Universities of Kuopio and Tampere in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and Finnish Medical Association carried out the 'Junior Physician 88' study in 1988, the purpose of which was to shed further light on the life situation and future plans of young doctors and their views concerning undergraduate and postgraduate medical education. The study concerned all the doctors registered during the years 1977-1986 in Finland (n = 5208). After randomization, a postal questionnaire was sent to one half (n = 2631) of these doctors. After the first reminder letter, 1745 questionnaires (66.3%) were returned. According to the views of the respondents undergraduate hospital teaching was adequate but the teaching of practice in health centres, school health care, team-work, health care of the elderly, home health care, rehabilitation, environmental health care and administration did not meet the professional needs of doctors. All doctors were satisfied with the hospital teaching in their undergraduate curriculum. However, only the doctors who graduated from the two modern universities in Kuopio and Tampere were satisfied with their undergraduate health centre teaching.
According to graduates, the community-oriented medical school curriculum better meets the needs of practising physicians than that in traditional faculties. In curriculum reforms, more emphasis should be placed on comprehensive medical education, which includes both primary and secondary health care.
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