Quality of life and Job satisfaction in medical specialists

BACKGROUND: Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the outlook for many physicians changed unexpectedly. There is evidence indicating that clinical performance decreases in stressed physicians, or with job dissatisfaction, factors that influence your quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To determine the correlation between quality of life and job satisfaction in medical specialists in Veracruz, Mexico. METHODS: A cross-sectional, observational, prospective and analytical study was carried out between November and April 2023. Medical specialists from Veracruz were included; retired physicians and physicians with motor and neoplastic disabilities were excluded. Data collection was carried out using Google Forms, applying the S21/26 job satisfaction (SL) test (A.Cronbach 0.9) and the WHOQOL-BREF quality of life test (A.Cronbach 0.8). The SPSS v22 program was used, X2 test, Pearson correlation, Odds Ratio (OR) and confidence interval (CI95%). RESULTS: 237 medical specialists were included. social characteristics, the points of general quality of life, job satisfaction and its components showed R values between 0.3 and -0.3; Low quality of life was associated (OR/CI95%) with low SL (2.2/1.1-4.1), high SL (0.3/0.2-.7), being a woman (2.7/1.5-4.9), wanting another specialty (3.4/1.3-8.9), hours greater than 12 noon on weekends (0.4/0.1-0.8); High job satisfaction 1.88 (1.06-3.33), Male sex 2.45 (1.34-4.47), Not having children 1.78 (1.01-3.14), Married in 2nd, 3rd, 4th marriage 4.36 (1.6-11.7), Having a salary that satisfies 5.37 (1.59-18.17) are associated with high quality of life (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Job satisfaction, practicing a desired specialty, favorable working conditions and health directly influence the quality of life of doctors. It is important to point out that some of these factors are modifiable, so we must work so that doctors carry out their work activities in the specialty they want, with fair shifts to favor their quality of life, which would favor better medical care. KEY MESSAGES: • There are modifiable factors from the work environment to favor the quality of life of specialist doctors, so investing in them should be considered to increase the quality of care for patients. • Medical students should know that the quality of life of a specialist doctor must be considered from the moment of choosing our specialty, in order to develop in a satisfactory work environment.