ARMY FAMILY PHYSICIAN SATISFACTION

Introduction: As numbers of family physicians decrease in the Army, the Army needs to know how satisfied they are with being family physicians and military officers. What variables are associated with these satisfactions? Methods: This was a cross-sectional mailed survey of Army family physicians (N=334). The response rate was 82% (N=274). The survey included questions with a Likert scale and was analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis, one-way analysis of variance, and logistic regression. Results: Ninety-two percent were satisfied with being family physicians and 74% were satisfied with being military officers. The variables associated with satisfaction were rank (positively associated) and percent time in patient care (negatively associated). Conclusions: Army family physicians are more satisfied with being family physicians than they are with being military officers. They are, however, satisfied with both professions. The Army, as an organization, may want to explore how its system of rewards interplay with rank and amount of time in patient care to make them predictive of satisfaction.