[Determinants of professional status among physicians in Mexico].
OBJECTIVE
This study explored a number of factors that determine the professional status of physicians in Mexico.


METHODS
Using structural equation modelling techniques, causal models were developed to investigate the determinants of professional status within the medical field.


RESULTS
The findings suggest that the proposed stratification process in the causal model has empirical support. In the prestige dimension, there is an adscriptive effect of gender, the resultant gender segregated the Mexican medical profession; in addition the achievement effects of medical education and work history within significant occupational and bureaucratic structures. In the economic dimension, the ascriptive effect of gender and the resultant differential in income and job opportunities of female physicians exist.


CONCLUSIONS
Although social origin seems to have a weak effect on the dimensions of professional status, it is suggested that both medical education and employment history were both significant positive determinants of professional status in the Mexican medical system. On the other hand, there are still significant gender inequities in the stratification structure of the medical profession.
Durán-Arenas
L
L
Organización de Sistemas de Salud del Centro de Investigación en Sistemas de Salud, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Morelos, México. lduran@insp.mx
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010820:Physicians; D012923:Social Class
Determinantes del estatus profesional de los médicos en México.