PERSONAL VALUES OF EXEMPLARY FAMILY PHYSICIANS - IMPLICATIONS FOR PROFESSIONAL SATISFACTION IN FAMILY MEDICINE

Background. Personal social values have been identified as important d eterminants of generalists' specialty choice. However, the personal va lues or ''guiding principles'' of generalist physicians have not been identified scientifically. To establish a benchmark, we measured the p ersonal values of exemplary family physicians because they serve as ro le models for current and future physicians. We also explored the rela tionship between personal values and practice satisfaction. Methods. W e obtained a list of 330 family physicians nominated for the American Academy of Family Physicians' (AAFP) Family Doctor of the Year award f or the years 1988 through 1993. We asked them to complete the Schwartz Values Questionnaire, a 56-item instrument for measuring personal val ues. They also answered three questions concerning practice satisfacti on. Results. The return rate was 83%. The physicians' mean age was 63 years. They had been in practice an average of 34 years, 93% were male , and 52% practiced in rural areas. Honesty was rated as the most impo rtant of the 56 values, and social power as the least important. Of th e 10 value types (groups of common values), the responding physicians rated ''Benevolence'' as most important and ''Power'' as least importa nt. Practice satisfaction correlated positively with the Benevolence v alue type (r = .21, P = .001) and negatively with the Power value type (r = -.15, P = .023). Conclusions. Of the 10 value types, Benevolence was rated the most important and Power the least important by exempla ry family physicians, and both value types also correlated, positively and negatively, respectively, with their practice satisfaction. These results have implications for the selection, training, and career sat isfaction of generalist physicians.