Job satisfaction has become an increasingly important topic of focus for the medical profession over the last 20 years. This report details the application of factor analysis to validate a widely used 10-item job satisfaction scale that has not previously been validated in a medical practitioner population. The study drew on data from 9,900 participants enrolled in the first wave of a longitudinal survey of Australian doctors. The instrument was found to possess a dominant single factor explaining 75% of the variance and internal reliability was high (r = .86), enabling the determination of a composite job satisfaction score. Australian doctors experienced high levels of job satisfaction overall, but this varied with doctor subpopulation, age, geographic location, and hours worked per week. The validation of this brief scale in a large cohort of Australian doctors provides opportunities for undertaking further exploratory and comparative job satisfaction research in medical practitioner populations.

Workplace aggression is a worldwide concern that has been linked to impaired physical and mental health. There is limited international research describing the extent and impact of workplace aggression in medicine, however, and the few Australian studies have primarily focused on general practitioner experiences of patient aggression ...

Background: Recruiting and retaining medical, nursing, and allied health professionals in rural and remote areas is a worldwide challenge, compromising continuity of care and population health outcomes in these locations. Specifically, pharmacists play an essential and accessible frontline healthcare role, and are often the first point of contact for health concerns. Despite several incentives, there remains a maldistribution and undersupply of pharmacists in rural and remote areas across many parts of the world. Although current systematic reviews have focussed on factors affecting pharmacists’ retention generally, literature specifically focused on rural pharmacist workforce in a global context remains limited. The aim of this systematic review is to identify factors associated with recruitment and retention of the pharmacist workforce in rural and remote settings. Better understanding of these contributors will inform more effective interventional strategies to resolve pharmacist workforce shortages. Methods: A systematic search of primary studies was conducted in online databases, including Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science and PsycINFO, and by hand-searching of reference lists. Eligible studies were identified based on predefined inclusion/exclusion criteria and methodological quality criteria, utilising the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) and Good Reporting of A Mixed Methods Study (GRAMMS) checklists. Results: The final review included 13 studies, with quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods research design. Study-specific factors associated with recruitment and retention of pharmacists in rural practice were identified and grouped into five main themes: geographic and family-related, economic and resources, scope of practice or skills development, the practice environment, and community and practice support factors. Conclusions: The results provide critical insights into the complexities of rural recruitment and retention of pharmacists and confirms the need for flexible yet multifaceted responses to overcoming rural pharmacist workforce challenges. Overall, the results provide an opportunity for rural communities and health services to better identify key strengths and challenges unique to the rural and remote pharmacist workforce that may be augmented to guide more focussed recruitment and retention endeavours.