Analysis of work, life, and occupation perception of emergency physician by generations

¹순천향대학교 서울병원 응급의학과
²을지대학교 노원을지병원 응급의학과
³명지병원 응급의학과
⁴경북대학교 의과대학 응급의학교실
⁵인제대학교 부산백병원 응급의학과
⁶연세대학교 원주의과대학 의학교육학과
⁷연세대학교 원주세브란스기독병원 응급의학과
⁸동아대학교 의과대학 응급의학교실
⁹KS병원 응급의학과
¹⁰가톨릭대학교 여의도 성모병원 응급의학과
¹¹경희대학교병원 응급의학과
¹²고려대학교 구로병원 응급의학과
¹³여수전남병원 응급의학과
¹⁴화홍병원 응급의학과
¹⁵창원경상대학교병원 응급의학과
¹⁶울산대학교 의과대학 예방의학과

Jun Se Park¹

, Beom Sok Seo¹

, Dong Hoon Key¹⁰

, Suk Jae Choi¹⁴

, Dae Sung Lim¹⁵

, Eu Sun Lee¹⁶

¹Department of Emergency Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital, Seoul, Korea
²Department of Emergency Medicine, Nowon Eulji Medical Center, Eulji University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
³Department of Emergency Medicine, Myongji Hospital, Goyang, Korea
⁴Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea
⁵Department of Emergency Medicine, Inje University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea
⁶Department of Medical Education, Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, Wonju, Korea
⁷Department of Emergency Medicine, Wonju Severance Christian Hospital, Wouju, Korea
⁸Department of Emergency Medicine, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea
⁹Department of Emergency Medicine, KS Hospital, Gwangju, Korea
¹⁰Department of Emergency Medicine, Yeouido St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
¹¹Department of Emergency Medicine, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Seoul, Korea
¹²Department of Emergency Medicine, Korea University Guro Hospital, Seoul, Korea
¹³Department of Emergency Medicine, Yeosu Jeonnam Hospital, Yeosu, Korea
¹⁴Department of Emergency Medicine, Hwahong Hospital, Suwon, Korea
¹⁵Department of Emergency Medicine, Gyeongsang National University Changwon Hospital, Changwon, Korea
¹⁶Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, Korea

Correspondence

Beom Sok Seo ,Tel: 02-709-3117, Fax: 02-709-3085, Email: buddy57@hanmail.net,

Received: July 3, 2021; Revised: November 16, 2021 Accepted: November 17, 2021. Published online: August 31, 2022.

ABSTRACT

Objective:
As the history of emergency medicine grows longer, emergency medicine specialists are observed to comprise various age groups. There have been no prior studies on the generation shift analysis of emergency medicine specialists. Our study is designed to identify the characteristics of each generation and predict the generation shift in emergency medicine physicians.
Method:
The analysis was based on the results of the 2020 survey of emergency medicine specialists. The study was conducted on 1,307 respondents and finally, the responses of 967 people were analyzed after excluding 199 who were not in charge of emergency room treatments and 141 who gave incomplete responses. The respondents were divided into four groups based on the following generations: first generation (1996-1999), second generation (2000-2008), third generation (2009-2014), and fourth generation (2015-2020), classified by the year in which they acquired their emergency medicine board license. The intergenerational difference analysis was done using the Kruskall-Wallis test.
Results:
The first generation was characterized by a high proportion of university hospital professors, large non-clinical activity hours, a few night shifts, higher social contributions, low satisfaction with the training and education environment, and a high retirement age compared to the later generations. In the second generation, the characteristics of the first, third, and fourth generations were generally mixed. The third and fourth generations showed similar characteristics overall, though there were differences in some categories.
Conclusion:
There were significant differences by generation in the working environments, motivation for application, and retirement age. This is the first study that quantifies generational differences. Considering these trends, a discussion about the work environment needs to be initiated.

Key words: Emergency physician; Generation; Trend; Retirement; Motivation