Skip to main content
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1984 Dec;74(12):1348–1352. doi: 10.2105/ajph.74.12.1348

Changes in the hours worked by physicians, 1970-80.

M P Freiman, W D Marder
PMCID: PMC1652679  PMID: 6507686

Abstract

The hours worked by physicians are affected by changes in a number of factors, including attitudes towards labor-leisure tradeoffs, the characteristics of the physician workforce, and the level of demand for medical services. This paper analyzes changes in the hours worked per week by office-based physicians over the decade 1970-80. Overall, there has been a statistically significant decline in hours of approximately 3 per cent, or 1.5 hours per week. This decline was fairly uniform across most physician characteristics, although the decline was greater for those in primary care specialties. Female physicians increased their average hours worked, although this increase was not statistically significant. In terms of the delivery of skilled medical services, the decline in total hours was largely offset by an increase in the percentage of total hours devoted to patient care. The question of whether these trends will continue has important implications for the validity of projections of a physician surplus in the near future.

Full text

PDF
1348

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bobula J. D. Work patterns, practice characteristics, and incomes of male and female physicians. J Med Educ. 1980 Oct;55(10):826–833. doi: 10.1097/00001888-198010000-00002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Langwell K. M., Werner J. L. Economic incentives in health manpower policy. Med Care. 1980 Nov;18(11):1085–1096. doi: 10.1097/00005650-198011000-00002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Mechanic D. The orginization of medical practice and practice orientations among physicians in prepaid and nonprepaid primary care settings. Med Care. 1975 Mar;13(3):189–204. doi: 10.1097/00005650-197503000-00001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Sloan F. A., Schwartz W. B. More doctors: what will they cost? Physician income as supply expands. JAMA. 1983 Feb 11;249(6):766–769. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES