What family physicians find rewarding

The 2004 National Physician Survey (NPS) gave FPs the opportunity to express which of their professional activities they found particularly rewarding.

“Doing well-baby and [obstetric] care and helping young families stay healthy and self-reliant. Doing health education of young adults [and] teens.”
“My obstetrical practice. Patients who say thanks and write beautiful letters of appreciation … Preventive and patient education aspects. Keeping patients out of hospital and truly doing primary and secondary prevention.”
“The same as the first day I started practice—the grateful patient.”
“Developing a therapeutic relationship with my patients; treating several generations within a family and following patients over many years; counseling patients.”
“Having the implicit trust of my patients to direct their [preventive] care and treat their diseases. The privilege of having families count on me as one of their own and especially to share the growing up of their children.”
“Obstetrics, palliative care, inpatient care … direct patient care is rewarding.”
“The patient encounter itself; the immediacy of being able to help patients; learning from colleagues/specialists/CME; being involved in health education and promotion; the variety and problem-solving of medicine as a career.”
“Being able to help people and counsel them in making good decisions regarding their health. Allowing the physicians I replace to spend time with their families and to have time to recreate. Having a job [that] is varied, stimulating, and secure.”
“Reaction[s] of my patients when we have good outcomes.”
“Relationships with my patients; gratitude of my patients for my involvement in their care; challenge and excitement of medicine even after 39 years of practice.”
“Combining academic/research with the grounding of [practising] medicine—I’ll never give up patient care, as this is what drives [and] motivates the rest (teaching, writing, research).”
“Diagnostic puzzles; communicating with patients; being with other physicians.”
“Flexible work scheduling; pleasant work environments, both hospital and clinic; fabulous family doc and hospitalist colleagues; generally great specialist consultants.”
“Chance to grow professionally and personally.”
“Opportunity to practise good family medicine … and to maintain clinical skills in a solo rural practice.”
“Patient care—all aspects. Despite the stresses, I still love rural/small-town practice and still consider it the gold standard.”
“Patient care, obstetrics, administrative successes, grateful and accomplished residents/trainees. Successful research projects. Recognition by peers and family.”
“Patient satisfaction, working with colleagues and interdisciplinary teams, teaching medicine as a profession for the intellectual and emotional challenges and stimulation.”
“Teaching medical students [and] residents. Pride in developing excellent programs for teaching CME. Meeting other like-minded physicians in supportive networks.”
“The satisfaction of loving what I do and the communication with my patients. The research and teaching. The activities within the community—volunteer[ing].”
“Participation in new research projects.”
“When I have a balance of work in different settings—office, ER, OR.”
“Emergency medicine represents a classic model of general practice that offers constant exposure to interesting and unusual cases with a wide range of learning opportunities.”
“Working in a rural ER, I have found that one doc and a couple of nurses really can save a life.”

The NPS is a collaborative project of the College of Family Physicians of Canada, the Canadian Medical Association, and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Additional NPS results are available from www.national-physiciansurvey.ca. If you would like the opportunity to develop and write a future Fast Fact using the NPS results, please contact Sarah Scott, National Physician Survey and Janus Project Coordinator, at 800 387-6197, extension 289, or sks{at}cfpc.ca.