Experiences of the medical profession: A qualitative study using narrative facilitators

BACKGROUND: Physicians' narratives are means to approach and comprehend the practice of medicine, and physicians' embedment in their work and the healthcare context. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore physicians' professional experiences and to examine how they are affected by factors related to their inner (psychological) and outer (institutional and social) worlds. METHODS: The study was designed as an exploratory qualitative study based on "narrative facilitators" (NF). Their goal is to encourage storytelling and to support the narrative process. The analytic approach was specific for each NF. RESULTS: Thirty-three physicians participated in the study. The findings showed a focus on the transformations of a profession, the need for physicians to adapt in terms of role and status, and their withstanding of conflicting projections from the public and patients (NF: press articles). The institutional context was described as not welcoming and impersonal (NF: photo-based story). When reacting to the quotes from their peers, participants showed a variety of un-patterned stances with respect to different aspects of medicine and the medical profession, illustrating heterogeneity with regard to professional attitudes and identities (NF: quotes from biographies/narrative accounts). Finally, findings also indicated that physicians often limited their narratives to a description of the materiality of the elements put into play (NF: blurred video sequences). CONCLUSION: Disenchanted physicians are not beneficial, neither for the patient nor for the health care system, and their feeling of being worn out may do harm and negatively affect themselves and their families.