Keywords

job satisfaction, minority health, physician satisfaction, organizational communication

Abstract

Few organizational communication studies examine the organizational aspects influencing career satisfaction specifically among non-white cultures in the medical physician population. This study examines minority physicians' perceptions of extrinsically controlled work environment factors in comparison to their white counterparts. Three research questions were analyzed from a 17-question survey tool to measure: physician satisfaction levels with autonomy over medical decision-making; autonomy over non-medical workplace decisions; and hospital cost containment efforts. These organizational variables have served as major points of discourse within the healthcare arena and they relate to the enigmatic nature of career satisfaction. Determined by the volume of respondents representing each race and ethnicity, five categories were selected for comparison: Asian/Pacific Islander, Indian/Pakistani, White/Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, and Black/African American. Participants that were surveyed included all physicians listed on the medical staff roster of a Southeastern, not-for-profit hospital group, regardless of status and medical specialty. The primary findings indicate that substantial variance exists among racial and ethnic subgroups regarding satisfaction with the dependent measures. Due to low numbers of minority health care physicians, previous studies have commonly measured physician job satisfaction aggregately, failing to differentiate cultural groups. Interestingly, when minority and non-minority groups were aggregately juxtaposed, no significant differences were reported in the data. However, when satisfaction was measured contrasting minority subgroupings with that of non-minority physicians, significant variations emerged from the data set. This study contributes to understanding better the organizational experiences of minority physicians in healthcare and the body of knowledge concerning minority health research as a whole.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2005

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Barfield, Rufus

Degree

Master of Arts (M.A.)

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Communication

Degree Program

Communication

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0000502

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0000502

Language

English

Release Date

January 2006

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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Communication Commons

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