Determinants of Resident Satisfaction with Patients in Their Continuity Clinic

• Published in: Journal of general internal medicine : JGIM 2004-05, Vol.19 (5p1), p.456-459
• Main Authors: Barnett, Don R., Bass, Pat F., Griffith, Charles H., Caudill, T. Shawn, Wilson, John F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Ambulatory Care; Attitude of Health Personnel; Biological and medical sciences; Brief Report; continuity clinic; Continuity of care; Continuity of Patient Care; Demography; Education; Ethnicity; Female; Health participants; Humans; Independent variables; Internal medicine; Internal Medicine - education; Internship and Residency; Job Satisfaction; Likert scale; Male; Medical coding; Medical sciences; Medicine; Mental disorders; Middle Aged; Pain; Patients; Physician-Patient Relations; Primary care; psychiatric disorders; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Questionnaires; residency training; satisfaction; Surveys and Questionnaires
• ISSN: 0884-8734; 1525-1497
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1525-1497.2004.30125.x

The purpose of this study was to identify what patient and physician factors influence resident satisfaction with patient encounters in a continuity clinic setting. Resident satisfaction was assessed from postencounter questionnaires completed by 68 internal medicine residents regarding 979 patient encounters. We found that residents were more satisfied with patients diagnosed with general medical problems than with patients diagnosed with pain and psychiatric disorders. First‐year residents were less satisfied with patients diagnosed with pain and psychiatric disorders than second‐ and third‐year residents. However, this dissatisfaction with seeing patients with pain or psychiatric disorders lessened as continuity of care was enhanced.