The Relationship between Job Satisfaction and Professional Ethics among the Iranian Physicians: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Job dissatisfaction among physicians leads to reduced quality of medical services and patient dissatisfaction. Adherence to professional ethics within medical groups can play a leading role in patient satisfaction and, ultimately, increase physicians’ motivation and enthusiasm. This study was conducted to assess physicians’ job satisfaction and professional ethics. Methods: In total, 130 physicians working at Sayad Shirazi, 5 Azar, and Taleghani hospitals in Gorgan participated in the study in 2023. The sampling method in this study was stratified random sampling. The data were collected using Akbari’s Professional Ethics Questionnaire and Alaghemand’s Occupational Satisfaction Questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using Pearson correlation coefficients, independent t-tests, and one-way analysis of variance in SPSS version 23. Results: The average age of the physicians participating in the study was 40.76±6.86 years. In total, 85 (65.4%) of the participants were female. The average overall job satisfaction score was 84.31±11.22 (out of 135), and the average overall professional ethics score was 78.73±6.90 (out of 100). A statistically significant positive relationship was observed between job satisfaction and professional ethics of physicians (r=0.4 ; P value=0.001). Conclusion: The job satisfaction of the studied physicians was evaluated at a lower than average level and the professional ethics of physicians was evaluated at a higher than average level, and as the job satisfaction of physicians increases, their professional ethics also increases. Therefore, in order to be able to increase the level of professional ethics of physicians, university and hospital managers should pay more attention to their job satisfaction and provide mechanisms to improve it. In this regard, necessary training and incentives should be provided at the beginning and during service.