Attitudes and Self-Perceptions of Emergency Physicians: The Systematization of Factor Interpretation

Abstract

Emergency medicine has recently received significant public attention as a consequence of prime time TV programs. Little literature exists that describes the attributes and self-perceptions of emergency physicians. The present pilot study evaluates practitioners of emergency medicine through the use of Q methodology. Five main attitudinal groups were observed that describe the qualities needed for successful accommodation of the demands of caring for a large volume of patients with a multitude of ailments and high level of acuity. These are Adapters, Processors, Sprinters, Administrators and Stressors. This fifth group’s description may account for the relatively high rate of practitioners leaving the field for less stressful areas of medicine. Factor interpretation is traditionally done by exclusive evaluation of the Factor Scores Array Table. A detailed approach for a systematic interpretation of factor meaning is offered as an illustration 0/the inductive process for new workers using Q methodology.