Objective: To examine the relationship between clinical workload and workload satisfaction in rural primary care physician retention.
Design: Data from a survey, "Practice Patterns of Young Physicians, 1987: United States," were analyzed.
Participants: Data on rural primary care (general or family practice, general internal medicine, or pediatrics) physicians working full time (> 35 h/wk) in clinical care were analyzed (n = 373).
Main outcome measures: Self-reported likelihood of leaving the current practice within the next 2 years.
Results: Twenty-five percent of the physicians indicated that they were somewhat or very likely to leave the practice within the next 2 years. The modal reason for the likelihood of leaving was working too many hours (21%). Forty-nine percent of the respondents were dissatisfied with their workload. Those who were dissatisfied with their workload reported a greater likelihood of leaving (P = .0005). However, a quantitative measure of workload was not significantly related to the likelihood of leaving. The results of a multiple regression indicated that employees and those dissatisfied with their workload were most likely to leave the practice within the next 2 years.
Conclusions: Satisfaction with clinical workload is an important factor in the likelihood of retaining rural primary care physicians.