Nationwide survey of internal medicine hospitalists in Korea: motivation and sustainability of a hospitalist career
Authors
Seung Jun Han ; Dong-Ho Shin ; Nak-Hyun Kim ; Eun Sun Kim ; Junhwan Kim ; Hye Won Kim ; Sung do Moon ; Sang Wook Park ; Jung Hun Ohn ; Chang-Yun Woo ; Ki Byung Lee ; Jae Hyun Lee ; Han Sung Lee ; Yejee Lim ; Seungha Hwang
Citation
KOREAN JOURNAL OF INTERNAL MEDICINE, Vol.38(3) : 434-443, 2023-05
Cross-Sectional Studies ; Hospitalists* ; Humans ; Internal Medicine ; Motivation ; Republic of Korea ; Surveys and Questionnaires
Keywords
Career choice ; Hospitalists ; Surveys and questionnaires
Abstract
Background/Aims: Although a management fee for hospitalist service was established in Korea, the number of hospitalists required for the system to run remains outmatched.
Methods: In January 2020 and February 2022, before and after the establishment of the hospitalist fee system respectively, cross-sectional online surveys were conducted among internal medicine board-certified hospitalists.
Results: There were 59 and 64 respondents in the 2020 and 2022 surveys, respectively. The percentage of respondents who cited financial benefits as a motive for becoming a hospitalist was higher in the 2022 survey than in the 2020 survey (34.4% vs. 10.2%; p = 0.001). The annual salary of respondents was also higher in the 2022 survey than in the 2020 survey (mean, 182.9 vs. 163.0 million in South Korean Won; p = 0.006). A total of 81.3% of the respondents were willing to continue a hospitalist career in the 2022 survey. In multivariate regression analysis, the possibility of being appointed as a professor was found to be an independent predictive factor of continuing a hospitalist career (odds ratio, 4.00; 95% confidence interval, 1.09–14.75; p = 0.037).
Conclusions: Since the establishment of the hospitalist fee system, monetary compensation has improved for hospitalists.
The possibility of being appointed as a professor could predict long-term work as hospitalists.