Physician practice characteristics and satisfaction: A rural-urban comparison of medical directors at US community and migrant health centers

For this study, the association between physician practice characteristics and satisfaction of medical directors at rural and urban Community and Migr ant Health Centers (C/MHCs) was investigated. Data for this study came from a 1996 cross-sectional survey of C/MHCs' medical directors. A total of 411 centers (68.3 percent) responded to the survey including 240 rural (67.4 p ercent) and 271 urban (68.7 percent) C/MHCs. Factor analysis was used to sy nthesize physician practice characteristics related to overall satisfaction . The resulting factors were entered as new variables in a predictive logis tic regression model of overall satisfaction Growing tip in an inner-city c ommunity was significantly associated with practicing in an urban center; w hereas, growing up in a rural or frontier community was more likely to resu lt in practicing in a rural center The majority of medical directors (82.3 percent) were either somewhat satisfied or very satisfied with their work. Satisfaction with work was most significantly associated with overall level of satisfaction, followed by satisfaction with administration, peers and p atients. Recruitment efforts are more likely to succeed when they target in dividuals with prior exposure to underserved areas. Improving the working c onditions and interactions with administrators would help sustain the high level of satisfaction experienced by medical directors at C/MHCs.