Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Human Resources for Health
Published in: Human Resources for Health 1/2019

Open Access 01-12-2019 | Care | Research

Job satisfaction of public and private primary care physicians in Malaysia: analysis of findings from QUALICO-PC

Authors: N. Ab Rahman, M. Husin, K. Dahian, K. Mohamad Noh, R. Atun, S. Sivasampu

Published in: Human Resources for Health | Issue 1/2019

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Job satisfaction of doctors is an important factor determining quality and performance of a health system. The aim of this study was to assess job satisfaction among doctors of the public and private primary care clinics in Malaysia and evaluate factors that could influence the job satisfaction rating.

Methods

This study was part of the Quality and Costs of Primary Care (QUALICOPC) Malaysia, a cross-sectional survey conducted between August 2015 and June 2016 in Malaysia. Data was collected from doctors recruited from public and private primary care clinics using a standardised questionnaire. Comparisons were made between doctors working in public and private clinics, and logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors influencing the likelihood of job satisfaction outcomes.

Results

A total of 221 doctors from the public and 239 doctors from the private sector completed the questionnaire. Compared to private doctors, a higher proportion of public doctors felt they were being overloaded with the administrative task (59.7% vs 36.0%) and part of the work does not make sense (33.9% vs 18.4%). Only 62.9% of public doctors felt that there was a good balance between effort and reward while a significantly higher proportion (85.8%) of private doctors reported the same. Over 80% of doctors in both sectors indicated continued interest in their job and agreed that being a doctor is a well-respected job. Logistic regression analysis showed public-private sector and practice location (urban-rural) to be significantly associated with work satisfaction outcomes.

Conclusion

A higher proportion of public doctors experienced pressure from administrative tasks and felt that part of their work does not make sense than their colleague in the private sector. At the same time, the majority of private doctors reported positive outcome on effort-and-reward balance compared to only one third of public doctors. The finding suggests that decreasing administrative workload and enhancing work-based supports might be the most effective ways to improve job satisfaction of primary care doctors because these are some of the main aspects of the job that doctors, especially in public clinics, are most unhappy with.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
1.
Rao M, Pilot E. The missing link--the role of primary care in global health. Glob Health Action. 2014;7:23693.PubMedCrossRef
2.
Anand S, Barnighausen T. Health workers at the core of the health system: framework and research issues. Health Policy. 2012;105(2–3):185–91.PubMedCrossRef
3.
Mustapha F, Omar Z, Mihat O, Md Noh K, Hassan N, Abu Bakar R, et al. Addressing non-communicable diseases in Malaysia: an integrative process of systems and community. BMC Public Health. 2014;14(Suppl 2):S4.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
4.
Ministry of Health Malaysia, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. Malaysia Health System Research Vol 1: Contextual Analysis of the Malaysian Health System Kuala Lumpur; 2016.
5.
6.
Merican MI, bin Yon R. Health care reform and changes: the Malaysian experience. Asia Pac J Public Health. 2002;14(1):17–22.PubMedCrossRef
7.
8.
9.
Lim HM, Sivasampu S, Khoo EM, Mohamad NK. Chasm in primary care provision in a universal health system: findings from a nationally representative survey of health facilities in Malaysia. PLoS One. 2017;12(2):e0172229.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
10.
Basu S, Andrews J, Kishore S, Panjabi R, Stuckler D. Comparative performance of private and public healthcare systems in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review. PLoS Med. 2012;9(6):e1001244.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
11.
Mimi O, Tong S, Nordin S, Teng C, Khoo E, Abdul-Rahman A, et al. A comparison of morbidity patterns in public and private primary care clinics in Malaysia. Malays Fam Physician. 2011;6(1):19–25.PubMedPubMedCentral
12.
Abdul Rahim R, Mwanri L. Health workforce crisis: recruitment and retention of skilled health workers in the public health sector in Malaysia. Asia Pac J Public Adm. 2012;34(2):157–70.
13.
Aidalina M, Aniza I. Factors associated with the brain-drain phenomenon of doctors from the public sector to the private sector in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. Int J Public Health Clin Sci. 2015;2(1):46–60.
14.
Chen L, Evans T, Anand S, Boufford JI, Brown H, Chowdhury M, et al. Human resources for health: overcoming the crisis. Lancet. 2004;364(9449):1984–90.PubMedCrossRef
15.
Franco LM, Bennett S, Kanfer R. Health sector reform and public sector health worker motivation: a conceptual framework. Soc Sci Med. 2002;54(8):1255–66.PubMedCrossRef
16.
Groenewegen PP, Hutten JB. Workload and job satisfaction among general practitioners: a review of the literature. Soc Sci Med. 1991;32(10):1111–9.PubMedCrossRef
17.
DeVoe J, Fryer GE Jr, Hargraves JL, Phillips RL, Green LA. Does career dissatisfaction affect the ability of family physicians to deliver high-quality patient care? J Fam Pract. 2002;51(3):223–8.PubMed
18.
Sibbald B, Bojke C, Gravelle H. National survey of job satisfaction and retirement intentions among general practitioners in England. BMJ. 2003;326(7379):22.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
19.
Pathman DE, Konrad TR, Williams ES, Scheckler WE, Linzer M, Douglas J. Physician job satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and turnover. J Fam Pract. 2002;51(7):593.PubMed
20.
Zhang Y, Feng X. The relationship between job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intention among physicians from urban state-owned medical institutions in Hubei, China: a cross-sectional study. BMC Health Serv Res. 2011;11:235.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
21.
Sararaks S, Jamaluddin R. Job satisfaction of doctors in Negeri Sembilan. Med J Malaysia. 1997;52(3):257–63.PubMed
22.
23.
Syed Ghazaili SNA, Daud N. Malaysian family physicians: are they satisfied with their job? Malays J Public Health Med. 2016;16(2):24–9.
24.
Chew B, Ramli A, Omar M, Ismail I. A preliminary study of job satisfaction and motivation among the Malaysian primary healthcare professionals. Malays Fam Physician. 2013;8(2):15–25.PubMedPubMedCentral
25.
Shkolnikova M, Yugay M, Pankevich V. Comparative study of physicians’ job satisfaction levels in the public and the private sectors in Russia. Open J Soc Sci. 2017;5:101–13.
26.
Roy A, van der Weijden T, de Vries N. Relationships of work characteristics to job satisfaction, turnover intention, and burnout among doctors in the district public-private mixed health system of Bangladesh. BMC Health Serv Res. 2017;17(1):421.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
27.
Whalley D, Bojke C, Gravelle H, Sibbald B. GP job satisfaction in view of contract reform: a national survey. Br J Gen Pract. 2006;56(523):87–92.PubMedPubMedCentral
28.
Behmann M, Schmiemann G, Lingner H, Kuhne F, Hummers-Pradier E, Schneider N. Job satisfaction among primary care physicians: results of a survey. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2012;109(11):193–200.PubMedPubMedCentral
29.
Qian F, Lim MK. Professional satisfaction among Singapore physicians. Health Policy. 2008;85(3):363–71.PubMedCrossRef
30.
Van Ham I, Verhoeven AA, Groenier KH, Groothoff JW, De Haan J. Job satisfaction among general practitioners: a systematic literature review. Eur J Gen Pract. 2006;12(4):174–80.PubMedCrossRef
31.
Friedberg MW, Chen PG, Van Busum KR, Aunon F, Pham C, Caloyeras J, et al. Factors affecting physician professional satisfaction and their implications for patient care, health systems, and health policy. Rand Health Q. 2014;3(4):1.PubMedPubMedCentral
32.
Lu Y, Hu XM, Huang XL, Zhuang XD, Guo P, Feng LF, et al. Job satisfaction and associated factors among healthcare staff: a cross-sectional study in Guangdong Province, China. BMJ Open. 2016;6(7):e011388.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
33.
Schafer WL, Boerma WG, Kringos DS, De Maeseneer J, Gress S, Heinemann S, et al. QUALICOPC, a multi-country study evaluating quality, costs and equity in primary care. BMC Fam Pract. 2011;12:115.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
34.
Schafer WL, Boerma WG, Kringos DS, De Ryck E, Gress S, Heinemann S, et al. Measures of quality, costs and equity in primary health care instruments developed to analyse and compare primary care in 35 countries. Qual Prim Care. 2013;21(2):67–79.PubMed
35.
Sivasampu S, Mohamad Noh K, Chin MC. Quality and costs of primary care (QUALICOPC) Malaysia: phase 1 - public clinics. Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Health Malaysia and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University; 2015.
36.
Hoffmann K, Wojczewski S, George A, Schafer WL, Maier M. Stressed and overworked? A cross-sectional study of the working situation of urban and rural general practitioners in Austria in the framework of the QUALICOPC project. Croat Med J. 2015;56(4):366–74.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
37.
38.
Stobbe EJ. Job satisfaction of general practitioners: an international comparison. Utrecht: Utrecht University; 2018.
39.
40.
41.
Hauff S, Richter N, Tressin T. Situational job characteristics and job satisfaction: the moderating role of national culture. Int Bus Rev. 2015;24(4):710–23.CrossRef
42.
Andreassi J, Lawter L, Brockerhoff M, Ruigliano P. Cultural impact of human resource practices on job satisfaction: a global study across 48 countries. Cross Cultur Manage. 2014;21(1):55–77.CrossRef
43.
Meeuwesen L, van den Brink-Muinen A, Hofstede G. Can dimensions of national culture predict cross-national differences in medical communication? Patient Educ Couns. 2009;75(1):58–66.PubMedCrossRef
44.
45.
Institute for Health Management. Health professionals’ perspectives on the retention of medical & dental specialists & senior pharmacists in the public sector. Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Health Malaysia; 2014.
46.
Scheurer D, McKean S, Miller J, Wetterneck T. U.S. physician satisfaction: a systematic review. J Hosp Med. 2009;4(9):560–8.PubMedCrossRef
47.
Butu AC, Tomoaia-Cotisel A, Olsavszky V. Are Romanian family doctors ready for Health 2020? Manag Health. 2014;XVIII(2):17–20.
48.
Woolhandler S, Himmelstein DU. Administrative work consumes one-sixth of U.S. physicians’ working hours and lowers their career satisfaction. Int J Health Serv. 2014;44(4):635–42.PubMedCrossRef
49.
Rao SK, Kimball AB, Lehrhoff SR, Hidrue MK, Colton DG, Ferris TG, et al. The impact of administrative burden on academic physicians: results of a hospital-wide physician survey. Acad Med. 2017;92(2):237–43.PubMedCrossRef
50.
Thun S, Halsteinli V, Lovseth L. A study of unreasonable illegitimate tasks, administrative tasks, and sickness presenteeism amongst Norwegian physicians: an everyday struggle? BMC Health Serv Res. 2018;18(1):407.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRef
51.
Erickson SM, Rockwern B, Koltov M, McLean RM. Putting patients first by reducing administrative tasks in health care: a position paper of the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med. 2017;166(9):659–61.PubMedCrossRef
52.
Wong EL, Yeoh EK, Chau PY, Yam CH, Cheung AW, Fung H. How shall we examine and learn about public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the health sector? Realist evaluation of PPPs in Hong Kong. Soc Sci Med. 2015;147:261–9.PubMedCrossRef
Metadata
Title
Job satisfaction of public and private primary care physicians in Malaysia: analysis of findings from QUALICO-PC
Authors
N. Ab Rahman
M. Husin
K. Dahian
K. Mohamad Noh
R. Atun
S. Sivasampu
Publication date
01-12-2019
Publisher
BioMed Central
Keyword
Care
Published in
Human Resources for Health / Issue 1/2019
Electronic ISSN: 1478-4491
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-019-0410-4

Other articles of this Issue 1/2019

Human Resources for Health 1/2019 Go to the issue

Research

The effects of maternity waiting homes on the health workforce and maternal health service delivery in rural Zambia: a qualitative analysis

Research

What motivates individuals to volunteer in Ebola epidemic response? A structural approach in Guinea

Review

Pre- and in-service training of health care workers on immunization data management in LMICs: a scoping review

Review

Remote health workforce turnover and retention: what are the policy and practice priorities?

Research

Migration intentions of Asian and African medical students educated in China: a cross-sectional study

Research

A conceptual framework for measuring community health workforce performance within primary health care systems