Job Satisfaction and Intentions to Leave of Foreign-National Urologists Working at German Hospitals: Results of the Cross-Sectional EUTAKD Study

Abstract

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Studies exist that identify factors associated with higher professional satisfaction among clinicians. However, there are no reliable findings for clinicians with a migration background as to whether there is a correlation between particular dimensions of professional satisfaction and the desire to leave their current specialty or country of employment. For the first time, these data were collected within a questionnaire-based study from urological clinicians with a migration background (UCMBs) working in Germany. <b><i>Material and Methods:</i></b> A SurveyMonkey^® with 101 items relating to characterizing features of the study participants and questions about job satisfaction (<i>n</i> = 39) was opened for UCMBs between August and October 2020. The influence of different dimensions of job satisfaction on the desire to quit the urological specialty/leave Germany was analyzed (group A: neither want to leave urology nor Germany; group B: can at least imagine leaving the urological profession and/or Germany). <b><i>Results:</i></b> Eighty-one UCMBs were distributed almost equally in groups A (50.6%) and B (49.4%). Occupational satisfaction was higher in several respects in group A. Three dimensions that differed significantly with regard to occupational satisfaction were used to create an aggregate score ranging from 3 to 15 points as follows: (1) relationship to superiors (<i>p</i> = 0.014), (2) career opportunities in the clinic (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001), and (3) opportunities for the further development of surgical skills (<i>p</i> = 0.006). For each point value of this aggregate score, the UCMB’s desire to quit urology or leave Germany (or at least uncertainty about this question) decreased by a relative value of 34.6% (odds ratio: 0.654, 95% confidence interval: 0.496–0.861, <i>p</i> = 0.002). <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> Various dimensions of job satisfaction have been identified, the improvement of which could contribute to the long-term retention of UCMBs at German urological clinics.