Physician Job Satisfaction and WorkingConditions in Japan: Koji WADA, et al. Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Kitasato University School of Medicine-Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine factors of working conditions associated with job satisfaction among physicians in Japan. Methods: We sent a questionnaire to all the physicians who graduated from a medical school in Japan. Physicians who were satisfied with their job were determined as those who selected "very satisfied" and "satisfied" in response to the question: "Overall, are you satisfied with your job?" Working conditions were determined from 10 different aspects: income fairness, hospital resources, career satisfaction, difficulty in patient care, lack of personal time, administrative work, workload, and relationships with physician colleagues, staff and patients. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the association between working conditions and job satisfaction. Results: Among the respondents, 209 (55.4%) men and 62 (61.4%) women were determined to be satisfied with their job. Job satisfaction was associated with income fairness for both men (corrected odds ratio 1.31, 95% confidence interval 1.09 to 1.47) and women (1.35, 1.05 to 1.53). For men, job satisfaction was associated with good hospital resources (1.45, 1.29 to 1.57), high career satisfaction (1.41, 1.23 to 1.57), good relationships with physician colleagues (1.33, 1.12 to 1.49), and good relationships with hospital staff (1.28, 1.07 to 1.45). For women, job satisfaction was associated with good relationships with patients (1.41, 1.07 to 1.56). Conclusions: Certain working conditions Field Studywere important factors for job satisfaction among physicians. These factors should be discussed for improving working conditions. (J Occup Health 2009; 51: 261-266)

The result of this study suggested that it is desirable to take these factors into consideration in the management of prolonged fatigue among physicians in Japan.

An Epidemiological Study of Work‐related Violence Experienced by Physicians who Graduated from a Medical School in Japan: Mayuri Arimatsu, et al. Department of Work Systems and Health, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan—Healthcare workers are at high risk of being victim of verbal and physical violence perpetrated by patients. There are only a few studies on work related violence among physicians. The aim of this study was to determine how prevalent work‐related violence against physicians is and whether gender, age, specializations and workplaces are associated with verbal and physical violence against physicians in Japan. A questionnaire was mailed to all the 1,705 physicians who had graduated from one medical school in Japan and had practiced for a minimum of 3 yr by the time of this study. The verbal and physical violence experienced by physicians at the hands of their patients and/or clients in the last 6 months preceding this study were collected. We defined ‘verbal violence’ as ‘any threatening statement or complaint’ while ‘physical violence’ referred to ‘the attempted or actual exercise by persons of any physical force so as to cause injury to a physician’. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to determine the independent contribution of each factor with violence. A total of 540 men and 158 women responded. The adjusted response rate was 41.8%. Among the participants, 168 (24.1%) physicians had experienced verbal violence and 15 (2.1%) physicians had experienced physical violence in the prior 6 months. Verbal violence was positively associated with physicians who were under 30 yr old (odds ratio [OR] = 2.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0–4.1 for 27–29 yr old) and, psychiatry (OR, 2.4; 95% CI, 1.1–5.4). Physical violence was significantly associated with women (OR, 3.8; 95% CI, 1.1–13.5), specializations such as emergency and anesthesiology (OR, 18.9; 95% CI, 2.8–126.1), and psychiatry (OR, 7.6; 95% CI, 1.6–35.4). There was a considerable number of physicians exposed to violence. Younger physicians and psychiatrists are likely to be exposed to verbal violence. Female physicians, psychiatrists, and emergency physicians are likely to be exposed to physical violence. Education on avoiding from violence should be provided for physicians early in their career.

Employers should take measures to improve working conditions in hospitals, and give physicians the opportunity to learn how to cope with WFC. These measures could ultimately help prevent prolonged fatigue.