title: Success attitudes of young ophthalmologists in the first decade of their career.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the main success attitudes of young ophthalmologists in the first decade of their career.
  
  
  METHODS
  This descriptive study comprised subjects selected from a sample of ophthalmologists who were participating in a congress, using a semi-structured questionnaire. The inclusion criteria were as follows: ophthalmologists under the age of 40 years, within 5-10 years from ophthalmology residency conclusion. The subjects were asked about the three main success attitudes in their personal experience during the first years of ophthalmology practice. After the initial results, the 10 most frequently mentioned attitudes were listed and volunteers were again interviewed to choose, within the latter list, the three main attitudes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-eight ophthalmologists were interviewed, 24 (50%) were male; the mean age was 37 years (SD: 2 years, range: 33-40 years) and the mean time from ophthalmology residency conclusion was 8 years (SD: 1 year, range: 5-10 years). The frequency of such mentioned success attitudes were as follows: to invest in professional updating (22.9%), to have a good relationship with patients and professional partners (18.8%), to prioritize individual and family happiness (12.5%), initially to work in an established group (11.1%), to work in public service (9.7%), to have their own business with a homogeneous group (7.6%), to save money (7.6%), to be ready to resume work (4.2%), to get business administration skills (4.2%), and to have professional insurance (0.7%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The three main success attitudes consisted in investing in professional updating (22.9%), maintaining a good relationship with patients and professional partners (18.8%), and prioritizing individual and family happiness (12.5%). Although these results should not be generalized, they are helpful not only for those ophthalmologists at the beginning of a career but also those who want to reflect on what to prioritize in their professional practice.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Estadual de Campinas - UNICAMP - Campinas (SP), Brazil. frpchaves@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Fernando Rodrigo Pedreira
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Chaves
authors.forename: Carlos Eduardo Leite
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Arieta
authors.forename: Maurício Abujamra
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Nascimento
authors.forename: Keila Miriam Monteiro de
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: Rodrigo Pessoa Cavalcanti
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Lira
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002322:Career Mobility; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009885:Ophthalmology / Q000193:education; D011364:Professional Practice; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires