Background: Nonphysician educators comprise a significant portion of the faculty in family medicine, yet little is actually known about this cohort of educators. This survey identifies and examines the population of nonphysician faculty.
Methods: a questionnaire was sent to 859 nonphysician faculty teaching full time in 113 family medicine departments and 377 family medicine residency programs. The questionnaire was used to determine the composition, characteristics, and levels of job satisfaction of respondents. The responses of this nonphysician cohort were compared to responses of physician faculty who participated in a previous study.
Results: Nonphysician faculty were more satisfied with the jobs they performed than they were with the recognition and rewards they received. Satisfaction levels of nonphysicians were significantly greater than their physician colleagues in the areas of research, clinical work, and administration. Physicians were significantly more satisfied than nonphysicians only in response to questions relating to teaching.
Conclusions: Further research is needed to determine how to optimally integrate nonphysicians into family medicine education and fully utilize their expertise.