title: Stress and the practice of medicine. III. Physicians compared with lawyers.
abstract: Stresses of medical practice, recognized as severe, do not increase physical morbidity and mortality of physicians but are know to have deleterious effects upon their mental well-being. This has been documented by a study of 100 physicians reported by the author previously. The hypothesis of motivation for the choice of medical profession as a vocation was explored from the point of view of personality vulnerability due to reaction formation to the fear of death and resulting compulsivity. In search of validity of vulnerability a study was undertaken on 50 lawyers residing in the same community as the studied physicians. A structured interview identical to the one used in the study of physicians was employed and computer analyzed. Results of this comparative study are reported in the current presentation.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000523:psychology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003192:Compulsive Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D003416:Criminal Law; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D007603:Jurisprudence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000523:psychology; D010551:Personality; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000523:psychology