title: Employment, psychosocial work environment and well-being among migrant and native physicians in Finnish health care.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although international migration of physicians is increasing, research information on their adjustment to working in a new country is scarce. This study examined the differences in employment, perceptions of psychosocial work environment and well-being between migrant and native physicians in Finland.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey was sent to a random sample of physicians in Finland (N = 7000) and additionally to all foreign-born physicians licensed to practice in Finland (N = 1292). The final response rates were 56% (n = 3646) among native Finns and 43% (n = 553) among foreign-born physicians.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Migrant physicians worked more often in primary care and on-call services and less often in leadership positions than native Finns. They more often experienced lack of professional support and lower work-related well-being compared with native Finns. Those migrant physicians who had lived for a shorter time in Finland perceived less stress related to electronic patient records systems and higher organizational justice compared with native physicians or those foreign physicians who had migrated earlier.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Foreign-born physicians are more often employed in the primary care sector, where there are most difficulties in recruiting from the native workforce in Finland. Attention should be paid to enhancing equitable career opportunities and well-being among foreign-born physicians working in Finnish health care. Although migrant physicians are relatively well adjusted to Finnish health care in terms of perceptions of psychosocial work environment, their lower well-being calls for attention.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Welfare and Health, Helsinki, Finland anna-mari.aalto@thl.fi.
authors.forename: Anna-Mari
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Aalto
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Welfare and Health, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Tarja
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Heponiemi
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Welfare and Health, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Ilmo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Keskimäki
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Welfare and Health, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Hannamaria
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuusio
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Welfare and Health, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hietapakka
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Welfare and Health, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Riikka
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lämsä
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Welfare and Health, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Timo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sinervo
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Welfare and Health, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Marko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elovainio
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D005550:Foreign Medical Graduates / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000078329:Workforce