A national survey of 'inactive' physicians in the United States of America: enticements to reentry

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Physicians leaving and reentering clinical practice can have significant medical workforce implications. We surveyed inactive physicians younger than typical retirement age to determine their reasons for clinical inactivity and what...

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Main Authors: Brotherton Sarah E, Jewett Ethan A, Ruch-Ross Holly
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2011-02-01
Series:Human Resources for Health
Online Access:http://www.human-resources-health.com/content/9/1/7
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spelling doaj-2ade7733f77944339e9615f835ab51d42020-11-25T00:45:50ZengBMCHuman Resources for Health1478-44912011-02-0191710.1186/1478-4491-9-7A national survey of 'inactive' physicians in the United States of America: enticements to reentryBrotherton Sarah EJewett Ethan ARuch-Ross Holly<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Physicians leaving and reentering clinical practice can have significant medical workforce implications. We surveyed inactive physicians younger than typical retirement age to determine their reasons for clinical inactivity and what barriers, real or perceived, there were to reentry into the medical workforce.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A random sample of 4975 inactive physicians aged under 65 years was drawn from the Physician Masterfile of the American Medical Association in 2008. Physicians were mailed a survey about activity in medicine and perceived barriers to reentry. Chi-square statistics were used for significance tests of the association between categorical variables and t-tests were used to test differences between means.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our adjusted response rate was 36.1%. Respondents were fully retired (37.5%), not currently active in medicine (43.0%) or now active (reentered, 19.4%). Nearly half (49.5%) were in or had practiced primary care. Personal health was the top reason for leaving for fully retired physicians (37.8%) or those not currently active in medicine (37.8%) and the second highest reason for physicians who had reentered (28.8%). For reentered (47.8%) and inactive (51.5%) physicians, the primary reason for returning or considering returning to practice was the availability of part-time work or flexible scheduling. Retired and currently inactive physicians used similar strategies to explore reentry, and 83% of both groups thought it would be difficult; among those who had reentered practice, 35.9% reported it was difficult to reenter. Retraining was uncommon for this group (37.5%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Availability of part-time work and flexible scheduling have a strong influence on decisions to leave or reenter clinical practice. Lack of retraining before reentry raises questions about patient safety and the clinical competence of reentered physicians.</p> http://www.human-resources-health.com/content/9/1/7
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Brotherton Sarah E
Jewett Ethan A
Ruch-Ross Holly
spellingShingle Brotherton Sarah E
Jewett Ethan A
Ruch-Ross Holly
A national survey of 'inactive' physicians in the United States of America: enticements to reentry
Human Resources for Health
author_facet Brotherton Sarah E
Jewett Ethan A
Ruch-Ross Holly
author_sort Brotherton Sarah E
title A national survey of 'inactive' physicians in the United States of America: enticements to reentry
title_short A national survey of 'inactive' physicians in the United States of America: enticements to reentry
title_full A national survey of 'inactive' physicians in the United States of America: enticements to reentry
title_fullStr A national survey of 'inactive' physicians in the United States of America: enticements to reentry
title_full_unstemmed A national survey of 'inactive' physicians in the United States of America: enticements to reentry
title_sort national survey of 'inactive' physicians in the united states of america: enticements to reentry
publisher BMC
series Human Resources for Health
issn 1478-4491
publishDate 2011-02-01
description <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Physicians leaving and reentering clinical practice can have significant medical workforce implications. We surveyed inactive physicians younger than typical retirement age to determine their reasons for clinical inactivity and what barriers, real or perceived, there were to reentry into the medical workforce.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A random sample of 4975 inactive physicians aged under 65 years was drawn from the Physician Masterfile of the American Medical Association in 2008. Physicians were mailed a survey about activity in medicine and perceived barriers to reentry. Chi-square statistics were used for significance tests of the association between categorical variables and t-tests were used to test differences between means.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our adjusted response rate was 36.1%. Respondents were fully retired (37.5%), not currently active in medicine (43.0%) or now active (reentered, 19.4%). Nearly half (49.5%) were in or had practiced primary care. Personal health was the top reason for leaving for fully retired physicians (37.8%) or those not currently active in medicine (37.8%) and the second highest reason for physicians who had reentered (28.8%). For reentered (47.8%) and inactive (51.5%) physicians, the primary reason for returning or considering returning to practice was the availability of part-time work or flexible scheduling. Retired and currently inactive physicians used similar strategies to explore reentry, and 83% of both groups thought it would be difficult; among those who had reentered practice, 35.9% reported it was difficult to reenter. Retraining was uncommon for this group (37.5%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Availability of part-time work and flexible scheduling have a strong influence on decisions to leave or reenter clinical practice. Lack of retraining before reentry raises questions about patient safety and the clinical competence of reentered physicians.</p>
url http://www.human-resources-health.com/content/9/1/7
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