Thriving among Primary Care Physicians: a Qualitative Study

Background Burnout is high in primary care physicians and negatively impacts the quality of patient care. While many studies have evaluated burnout, there have been few which investigate those physicians who are satisfied with their careers and life-a phenomenon we term thriving. Objective To identify factors contributing to both career and life satisfaction through qualitative interviews. Participants The subjects were primary care physicians. Approach Qualitative interviews were performed between July 2018 and March 2020. Physicians were identified by snowball sampling and were asked to complete validated instruments to identify job/life satisfaction and lack of burnout. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, focused on aspects of participants' career and life which contributed to their thriving, including work environment, social networks, family life, institutional support, coping strategies, and extracurricular activities. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic content analysis using a grounded theory approach. Main Measures Personal, professional, and life factors that contributed to achieving career and life satisfaction in primary care physicians and potential solutions for burnout. Results Thirty-two physicians were interviewed (9.4% family physicians, 9.4% combined internists-pediatricians, 40.6% internists, and 40.6% pediatricians) with a mean age 54.7 years and 23.8 years in practice. No physicians included met the criteria for burnout. All met the criteria for career and life satisfaction. Five themes were identified as critical to thriving: an intrinsic love for the work, a rich social network, a fulfilling doctor-patient relationship, a value-oriented belief system, and agency in the work environment. Conclusions Several factors contribute to professional fulfillment and life satisfaction among primary care physicians, which we propose as a model for physicians thriving. Some factors were intrinsic, such as having value-oriented beliefs and inherent love for medicine, while others were extrinsic, such as having a fulfilling social network. Barriers and opportunities to apply these lessons for the wider physician community are discussed.

Automated summary

This study identified factors contributing to career satisfaction and life satisfaction among primary care physicians through qualitative interviews. The findings revealed that intrinsic factors such as love for work and value-oriented beliefs, as well as extrinsic factors like fulfilling social networks, play critical roles in physician thriving. The study proposed a model for physician thriving based on the identified critical themes and discussed barriers and opportunities for wider application in the physician community.