ABSTRACT
Presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting, May 2004
Balancing Work
and Personal Life: Perceptions of Part-time and Full-time Pediatricians
Karen G O�Connor 1, Avrum Katcher 2, Hannah Sherman 3 and William L Cull 1. 1Division of Health Policy Research, American Academy of Pediatrics, Elk Grove Village, IL; 2Department of Pediatrics, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ and 3Physician Wellness Special Interest Group, American Academy of Pediatrics, Elk Grove Village, IL.
Background: Reduced working hours are perceived to be a means of balancing personal and professional life, however, it is unknown if part-time pediatricians�(PTP) sense of work/family balance differs from their full-time colleagues (FTP).
Objective: To assess differences between full-time and part-time pediatricians� satisfaction with personal and professional life.
Design/Methods: National random sample, mailed Periodic Survey of American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) members, 2003; response=63%; n=1020. Bivariate and multivariate analyses assessed differences between groups and associations with selected variables.
Results: 17% of pediatricians work part-time, averaging 32 hours/week; 87% of PTP are female v 47% of FTP (p<.001); 73% of PTP have minor children v 50% of FTP (p<.001). PTP are significantly more likely than FTP to be satisfied with the amount of time they spend with their children (62% v 39%, p<.001), friends (34% v 25%, p<.05), and in community activities (31% v 21%, p<.05); there are no differences in reported satisfaction with time for spouse, hobbies or caring for elderly relatives. More PTP than FTP say they are satisfied with number of hours worked (68% v 43%,p<.001), time for administrative work (46% v 30%,p<.001), and work environment (79% v 68%, p<.05). Satisfaction with patient interactions, relationships with colleagues, style of practice, involvement with professional societies, and income did not differ. Overall, 28% of PTP are satisfied with the balance between work and personal responsibilities compared to 17% of FTP (p<.01); 48% of FTP say reduced work hours would make the greatest overall improvement in this balance. In logit models (with PT employment, age and gender included), working PT and age >44y are predictors of satisfaction with time spent with children (OR 2.95 and OR 1.49, respectively) and work-family balance (OR 2.15, OR 2.97); gender has no effect. A majority of PTP and FTP (70%, 72%) say they would choose medicine again as a career path; however, only about one-half (45%, 50%) would recommend medicine to others.
Conclusions: Reduced working hours positively affects pediatricians� sense of work/personal balance. PTP are more satisfied with time for their children and other personal activities, and express similar or greater professional satisfaction. Desire for improved balance may affect the structure of the future pediatric workforce.