Evaluation of job satisfaction and burnout levels of family medicine specialists during the pandemic period

INTRODUCTION AND AIM: In our study, it was aimed to determine the job satisfaction and burnout levels experienced by family medicine specialists during the pandemic period, to determine the relationship between sociodemographic variables and job satisfaction and burnout levels, and to develop solutions for the identified problems. MATERIAL AND METHOD: It is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sociodemographic data form consisting of 22 questions, Maslach Burnout Questionnaire consisting of 22 questions and Minnesota Job Satisfaction Questionnaire consisting of 20 questions were applied to 417 family medicine specialists working in Turkey. Within the scope of data analysis, descriptive statistics, group comparison tests and correlation coefficient were used. IBM SPSS Statistics 20.0 program was used for statistical analyzes and calculations and the significance level was accepted as 0.05. RESULTS: It was determined that the mean age of 417 family medicine specialists participating in the study was 39.82±7.84 (±Standard Deviation (SD)) and 59% of the participants were female and 41% male. The mean internal satisfaction score of family medicine specialists was 3.38±0.67, the mean external satisfaction score was 2.77±0.74, and the mean overall job satisfaction score was 3.13±0.64. The job satisfaction scores of the participants showed a significant difference only according to the income status of the demographic variables. The mean emotional exhaustion score of family medicine specialists was found to be 18.42±7.00, the mean depersonalization score was 7.02±3.65, and the mean personal achievement score was 19.97±3.94. While the burnout scores of the participants differ according to the demographic variables of having a child and income status; A significant difference was found for the variables other than the variables of administrative duty, the variables of working life, and the number of patients before the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSION: The health system is a whole with every step. Each step in which there is a disruption will definitely affect the other negatively over time. A strong primary health care service is the most important factor that will ensure the financial sustainability of our country's health system. Quality and sustainable service is possible with employees with high job satisfaction. For this, improving the physical spaces of the employees, the closeness of the workload, the responsibility received for the work done and the wages received for the work, with the equivalent profession groups or their colleagues from developed countries, will positively affect job satisfaction. One of the situations that most negatively affect the employees is the legislative changes that threaten the job guarantee, which negatively affects job satisfaction. In this context, it is necessary to consider the situations that cause burnout of family medicine specialists. KEY WORDS: Family medicine, Family medicine specialist, COVID-19, Job satisfaction, Pandemia; Burnout