TY - JOUR AU - Afonso, Pedro AU - Aleixo, Olga Vaz AU - Aleixo, Rute Vaz AU - Carvalho, Diogo J. F. de AU - Simões, José Augusto PY - 2019/11/04 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Work-Family Balance Within the Medical Profession: An Exploratory Study JF - Acta Médica Portuguesa JA - Acta Med Port VL - 32 IS - 11 SE - Original DO - 10.20344/amp.11997 UR - https://www.actamedicaportuguesa.com/revista/index.php/amp/article/view/11997 SP - 697-705 AB - <p><strong>Introduction:</strong> The aim of this study is to characterize and assess work-family balance within the medical profession in Portugal.<br /><strong>Material and Methods:</strong> This cross-sectional and exploratory study analyzed a sample of 181 doctors who are members of the Portuguese Catholic Doctors’ Association. A qualitative survey with multiple-choice questions was applied in order to assess socioeconomic and working conditions as well as work-family balance. Descriptive and linear regression analyses were carried out.<br /><strong>Results:</strong> Nearly 40% of the surveyed doctors negatively assessed the work-family balance within the private sector. As for the Portuguese National Health System, 73% negatively assessed the work-family balance within the public sector. More than half of those surveyed (56%) worked more hours than what they considered as harmful for their work-family balance and the vast majority was working at the limit or overtime. Data collected enabled us to associate a heavier workload with working in the emergency room, age and men. Moreover, it was observed that working more hours was not linked to having children or being married.<br /><strong>Discussion:</strong> In our study, the three measures of work-family balance that the participants considered to be the most important were the possibility of flexible scheduling, part-time work and temporarily reducing working hours (e.g. for family assistance). These aspects may explain the differences found in the assessment of work-family balance between the public and private sector.<br /><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Due to the demanding nature of the medical profession, doctors are placed into a particularly risky situation in order to achieve a suitable work-family balance. The results of our study indicate a general dissatisfaction regarding this balance – special in the public sector – which is mainly associated with excessive weekly working hours.</p> ER -