SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

CAREER FULFILLMENT: PHYSICIAN ‘S STAND ON THEIR PROFESSION

A Research Proposal

Submitted by:
ATIENZA, ISSAFEL C.
DELA CRUZ, KRIZIA C.
MATIC, AARON MIGUEL N.
MIGUEL, AUDREY C.
PANLILIO, KATHRYN ANNE U.
TUMANG, CARYL JOY N.

11-ST. TERESA OF CALCUTTA

Submitted to:
MS. KATRIN ANNE F. CARPENA
Consultant

MS. JANINE LEI OLIVEROS

Teacher

March 2, 2020
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INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
According to Sandomal (2016), the Philippine Medical Association stated that
there are 130,000 licensed physicians in the country, with only 70,000 active in the
profession. Medical professionals in the country like nurses and doctors work overseas.

Theodoru (2019) listed the Top 20 highest paying jobs in the world wherein
anesthesiologists ranked first in the list and surgeons came in second. Orthodontists
and dentists also followed the ranking. CEOs, engineering managers, IT systems
manager, corporate lawyers and marketing managers are some of the jobs that are
included in the list.

Liu (2019) and Mejia (2019) stated that the most highly paid employees in the
world are more likely to wear a white coat rather than a Silicon Valley hoodie and jeans
dress. According Glassdoor (n.d.), doctors earn a total base salary of just over $193,000
—a considerable amount more than the No. 2 top-earning pharmacy manager, and
workers who earn an average of $144,000.

Hess (2018) as well as Meier (2019) stated that, wanting to become a doctor
takes many years of a person's life, like four years of undergraduate school, four years
of medical school, at least one year of residency, and multiple researches. But if the
person got the job, it will be all worth it because the salary of doctors are known to be
one of the highest-paying jobs.

Meier (2019) also stated that teaching a patient on how to take care of himself,
exploring new ways of medical treatments, and saving lives are some of the medical
students’ desire that is why they pursue medical courses.

According to Rosta, Aasland and Nylenna (2019), a physician’s general well-being

is an integral part of providing good healthcare services and it has been found that it is
an indicator of quality being given by the physician. It is important that the doctors are
satisfied with their career in order to give out the most positive outcome regarding their
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patients because happiness can be proportional to the effectiveness and efficiency of the
physician to a certain extent.

Dowd (2018) said that finding a right place in the medical field can lead to a job
that is perfectly suited to a person’s personality and skills. Doctors experience huge
accomplishment in using their skills and knowledge when it comes to the medical field.
Being a doctor will lead to tremendous opportunities to specialize in whatever field of
medicine that is appealing and rewarding.

An article Advantages Disadvantages (n.d.), said that there are pros and cons of
being a doctor. Doctors have benefits; they get respect and satisfactions due to helping
others, and the amount of their salary. But in order for a person to become a doctor, a
student must undergo a long period of school paying high amount of tuition fees. After
graduation, residency comes, with the long hours of duty, doctors experience lots of
stress that leads to burnout. There can be upside down situations to being a doctor just
like any other professions.

In the Medscape Survey (n. d.) seventy six percent of physicians said that they
are mildly content up to very content with their way of lifestyle. This means that
majority of physicians are enjoying their life. The specialization that they often do is one
of the reasons that affect the physician's happiness of their job. Allergy and
Immunology, Dermatology, Emergency Medicine, Ophthalmology, and Plastic Surgery
are the top five fields with the happiest practicing physicians, while the lower five fields
arranged by physicians' happiness is Cardiology, Public Health and Preventive Medicine,
Oncology, Infectious Diseases, and Internal Medicine (Mannam, 2019).

In contrary, Dhand (2018) said that more than half of doctors would not
recommend going for a medical course as cited by The Doctor’s Company (2018). In a
study, it shows that more than half of the students going into medical school entered it
with selfless intents, focusing on “helping those in need” and doing various kinds of
deeds as their reason for entering the medical field, but after years of being a doctor,
their intents gradually changed. It takes a lot of time and effort to be a licensed medical
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professional, and with all that work, the students who do choose to go all the way end
up with massive debt.

An article by “Are Physicians” (n.d.) also stated that being a physician is a tough
decision. Some doctors do not recommend this kind of job to others because it affects
time with families, stress due to lack of government support and some medical issues.

In addition, Commonwealth Fund cited by Gopal (2018) stated that one of a

physician’s struggles is caring for chronically ill patients.

According to one survey, only six percent of doctors are having fun at work.
They would likely commit suicide two times the rate of the general population. Half of
them are not sure if they will advertise the practice of medicine to the youth. But they
are not like other people or other professionals. Lawyers, accountants and other
specialists are mostly enjoying their jobs. These doctors have run out of the third party
payer system. Just like other specialists they are only handling clients, which means that
they are not dealing with insurance companies (Goodman, 2014).

Mills (2019) said that in the U.S., the suicide rate of doctors are twice more than
that of the military, therefore the burnout and frustration experienced by physicians are
increasing. It is also stated that in 2014, a little less than half of doctors in the state said
that they had experienced moderate to high signs of workplace fear. In 2017, more than
half of doctors showed signs of burnout and that a majority of doctors are unsatisfied
with their given profession. The more burnout the doctors experience results in a rise of
early retirement. Almost half of doctors have also been said to plan fewer work hours or
to just quit or retire within the next 5 years.

The article, The Unspoken Causes of Physician Burnout stated that burnout can
lead to severe depression, exhaustion ad job dissatisfaction. Half of the doctors
experience this and it may affect the quality of patient care that they will administer.
Doctors may not perform their duty properly as a doctor. Doctors strongly agreed that
the root of burnout is due to the health care system (Pearl, 2019).
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To avoid the problems of burnout, a study conducted by the American Medical

Association cited in Coyle (2017), said that there are some strategies that may help the
physicians cope with their problem, because almost a third of physicians is at a high risk
for depression or was already depressed earlier in their careers. A medical malpractice
case is one of the most dreaded factors to burnout. To combat the issue, physicians can
contact their relatives, friends and acquaintances directly to request their support.
Physicians can encourage their peers to continue to do what they enjoy. Also, having a
good laugh and resting is ranked highly on the list of self-care activities. Becoming
aware of the effects of burnout, caring for one’s own well-being and delivering practice
wide treatment can build a more supportive workforce.

According to the physician-patient cycle model proposed by Williams et al. (n.d),

when doctors manage their stress successfully, they may interact more effectively with
their patients. However, when stress is too severe and coping mechanisms are
overwhelmed, a harmonious medical encounter would be difficult to ensure, and the
normal health care demands of patients may add to the stress of doctors which they
experienced. The recognition and respect is an especially significant reward so when a
doctor feels less love and reality,the condition of a person can get worse. Relationship
between doctor and patient would be likely to suffer from more friction between work
and family (Deng, et. al, 2018).

The researchers decided to conduct this study to know the reasons why doctors
still remain in their jobs despite the challenges and struggles that they encountered.

Statement of the Problem

The study sought to identify the reasons why doctors remained contented with
their jobs specifically (1) identify the source of fulfillment of the doctors in pursuing their
profession, (2) identify the struggles of doctors in fulfilling their jobs and (3) identify the
coping mechanisms of physicians in their different challenges.

Significance of the study

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This study will benefit the following:

To the current and aspiring Medical students, they will get insight as to what it
really is on the medical field and how it is to be a physician. It can inform the students
about how content and satisfied doctors are with their chosen profession and what are
the struggles and challenges that await them after graduating. The students can also
decide if the medical field is right for them based on the response of the participants
participating in this study.

To the Physicians, especially to those doctors who are on a similar situation, they can
learn from the study to use the coping habits and strategies to deal with their own
struggles and challenges.

To the future researchers, they can use this study as a future reference to reinforce
their own research and that they may also gather more information related to their
study. This may also increase their efficiency and understanding of the subject because
this study will help them give a good background or insight.

Scope and Delimitation

The study only discussed the experiences of professional doctors. The

participants interviewed can either be male or female. The amount of a physician’s
experience started at five (5) years to ten (10) years of work experience. The
participants only work in the province of Pampanga.

This study did not cover the participant’s age, family background, civil status,
religion or any personal aspects that is of no relation to the study. The physical aspects
and specialization of the participants were not also necessary.

Definition of Terms
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The following terms were used in the study:

Doctor. It is any medical profession with an MD, PhD, or any doctoral degree. For
instance, a Doctor can be a doctor. For instance, a Doctor can be a physician,
psychologist, biomedical scientist, etc. (Shiel, 2019). In the present study, doctors are
people who finished medical schools and are working in a hospital.

Fulfillment. It is the feeling of happiness because of an accomplished thing in life

(Cambridge, 2019). In the present study, fulfillment is the feeling of a doctor toward
his/her life,

Struggle. It is the difficulty in achieving and doing something (Soon, 2019). In the
present study, struggle is the problems that are encountered in the job or profession.

Coping mechanism. It is the way to overcome a challenge or problem .It helps a

person to adjust in a stressful environment (Good Theory 2017).In the present study,
coping mechanism is the strategy of a person to pass through problems.

METHODOLOGY
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Research Design
The researchers used Qualitative research particularly phenomenological
approach to gather data. According to Crossman (2019), qualitative research is a type of
research that do not use numerical data but it seeks to gather information composed of
the social and everyday life of a person. On the other hand, phenomenology, according
to Chambers (2013) is a qualitative research that describes the lived experiences of a
certain group of people.

This study used qualitative data because the process of collecting data involves
interviewing and the research is focused on the experiences of doctors. Data collected
are also non-numerical which means it is a qualitative research and phenomenology.

Participants and Sampling Design

In this study "CAREER FULFILLMENT: PHYSICIAN ‘S STAND ON THEIR
PROFESSION", the sampling technique used was purposive sampling. Purposive
sampling technique is reaching a targeted sample quickly based on the characteristics of
the participants and the objective of the study (Crossman, 2019).
The participants should have 5-10 years of experience working as a doctor,
either male or female. The participant’s specialization in their profession is not included
in the criteria of the selection of the participants.

These are the criteria in choosing participants which will be the basis of the
study to have more accurate results about their experiences in their chosen profession.

Instrument of the Study

The instrument of the study was an interview guide. The researchers constructed
four questions that served as a tool for the interview guide. It contains questions about
(1) the source of fulfilment of physicians (2) the struggles that they face and (3) the
coping strategies of doctors. The questions were validated by Ms. Janine Lei Oliveros,
the research teacher, Ms. Katrin Anne F. Carpena, the consultant and Ms. Abigail
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Landingin, an expert in medical field. After the validation of instruments, the researchers
conducted pilot testing to five participants to assure the feasibility and effectiveness of
the questions to gather the data needed in the study.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers conducted the following procedures to meet the objectives of
the study. The researchers constructed questions for the interview guide. It was used
for the pilot testing and data gathering. The first instrument was validated by the
research adviser by Ms. Janine Lei Oliveros. After validation, researchers then requested
for an appointment to interview the participants. Consent letters were given to the
participants before conducting the pilot testing to assure ethical considerations. Pilot
testing (which consists of five (5) participants) were conducted for validity. After
conducting the pilot testing, the researchers retrieved the instruments for data analysis.
After retrieving the instruments, the researchers applied revisions and transcribed the
data. The instruments were validated for the second time by the research adviser, Ms.
Janine Lei Oliveros, Ms. Katrin Anne Carpena, the consultant and a validator who is an
expert in medical field. After validation, the researchers conducted data gathering with
doctors from hospitals or clinics. After data gathering, the data were analyzed.

Data Analysis
To analyze the data, the researchers used content analysis. Content analysis as
stated by Lou (2019), is a research method that is used to record communication. In
conducting conduct analysis, it can be from books, magazine, interview, and speech that
can be written text, or oral. There were three processes in content analysis that the
researchers used: open coding, selective coding, and axial coding. According to
Gallicano (2013), open coding is re-reading of the data and forming a text that describes
and summarizes a participant’s answer while axial coding is connecting the ideas of the
previous open coding. Lastly, selective coding is rechecking and finding a common
relation out of all the data. The researchers used this to effectively analyze data to
answer the objectives of the study.
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Ethical Consideration
The researchers ensured the confidentiality of information and data collected
from participants. Research participants are not subjected to any harm and consent was
distributed prior to the study. Anonymity of individual was also kept confidential. The
permission of voice recording are asked before conducted the interview. The
participants are not forced and can refuse not to conduct the interview. Any type of
offensive, discriminating, hurtful, biased and misleading question which is not related to
the study was also avoided during the data gathering procedure. The participants can
contact the research members to know the result of the study and question about the
study can be asked by the participant during the data gathering. Lastly, the answers
gathered were not to be made public and would only be used for research purposes
only.

FINDINGS
This chapter presents the data obtained in the data gathering.
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Objective No. 1: Identify the source of fulfillment of the doctors in pursuing

their profession

1. Interview Question No. 1: What are the things that makes you fulfilled of your job?

Actual Transcripts Open Code Axial Code Selective

Code
P1” Seeing a patient gets discharge healthy Successful
from the hospital after days of being in the recovery of
ICU. Coming out of the delivery room telling a patients
father that his baby came out healthy. Saving
a life is fulfilling”.
P2.” Treating Patients and relieving them of Treating
their pain”. Patients Complete Successful
P10 “When I see my patients regain their Successful recovery of recovery of
strength and be able to go home without treatment patients patients
complications. Just seeing them recover
makes me fulfilled”.
P11 “Uhm well getting in sick patients get Patients gets
better is one of the fulfillments of our job”. better
P12 “What makes me fulfilled with my job is
when my patients are getting the right care Patients
that they need. And as long as I do my job getting the
well in serving the people and giving their right care
needs I am very much okay with that”.

P1 “Parents thanking you for saving their Guardian’s

daughters life after a seizure”. gratitude

P4” Praise of patients, relevance in the Praise of

society, confidence”. patients Patients’ Patients’
Satisfaction Expression
P5 “Patients satisfaction of my work”. Patients and of
satisfaction Gratitude
Satisfaction
P6 ”Seeing my patients satisfied, safe, healthy Patients’ and
and cured”. satisfaction Gratitude

P7 “1 If I am seeing my patients a wide smile Patients’

on their faces and saying "thank you" it means satisfaction
a lot to me. It says that I rendered a
therapeutic care and I did my job well and I
am one of the reason why they are feeling Patient’s
better than before.” gratitude
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P4 “Monetary reward” Financial Financial

Reward Independen
ce which
P3 “Pati nasu-support ko family ko dahil ditto”. To support Salary can Sustain
(I am able to support my family because of the family the Needs of
this.) the Family

P9 “Able to sustain my family”. Sustaining

financial
needs
P14 “And helping my family financially”.
Financial
help to
family
P15 1.” Una education, training ng mga anak
ko. Unwavering discipline and self- Educational
governance”. (First education, training of my support to
children. Unwavering discipline and self- family
governance.)
P8 “Knowing that I can help people”. Helping
people Helping Extending
P9 “Ahh…For me, ahh…fulfillment of my job others support to
will be… able to help others”. Helping other people
others in need

P8 “Knowing that I can help people”. Helping

people

P14 “Helping sick people”. Helping

others

P13 “When I accomplish my job by helping Helping

other people that needs my help”. others

P3 “Syempre yung nafulfilll ko dream job ko. Fulfillment of

yung nakakatulong ako sa mga tao” dreams Fulfillment
(Of course I fulfilled my dream job. I can help of ambitions
people.)

Most of the respondents said that the successful recovery of patients, patients’
satisfaction, and the ability to extend support to other people are their source of
fulfillment. A minority answered that they do it to financially sustain their families.
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2. Interview Question No. 2: What are the factors that you consider in choosing your
profession?
Actual Transcripts Open Code Axial Code Selective
Code
P1 “ When I decided to become a doctor, I
considered the fact that my parents wanted me to
be one. I was hesitant at first but when I finally Parents’ Parent’s Parents’
entered medical school and realized that this choice decision decision
profession is not only about saving lives but also and
educating people and patients, it became clearer inspiration
to me that this is what I’m honed to do”.

P14 “It’s my parents’ decision to make me go to

medical school and be a doctor” Parents’
decision
P12 “Belong to the family of Doctors and I want to
continue their legacy by being one of them. My Inspiration Inspiration
parents did everything so that I can be the best from from
doctor that I can be”. parents parents

P13 “My parents’ dream”.

Parents’
dream
Childhood
dream and
p3 “Yung pangarap ko, childhood dream kasi. Childhood Childhood ambitions
kung in demand ba sa bansa na balak ko dream goal
pagtrabahuhan ganon”. (my dream, childhood
dream. if it’s in demand in the country that i’m
planning to go. like that)

P6 “It’s my dream since high school, my father High school

was also a doctor, before then. Also, I decided to dream
take medicine due to my mother’s health
condition”.

P9” Hmmm…Since I was a kid, I...ahhh always

dream of becoming a doctor, sooo...for ahhh, Childhood
ahmmm aspiring doctors, ahh I can say that ahhh, Dreams
pursue your dream even if it is hard, just keep
going forward”.

P12” There’s a lot of factors that I considered in

choosing my profession, Even when I was a child Childhood
being a doctor is my dream”. Dreams
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P2 “Ahh...First you must have commitment, Traits Attitude The

second patience and third passion, because you attitude a
will not finish medicine without patience and person
commitment ... and also passion”. must
posses

P11”Having the compassion with people and

providing services… are just the factors why I
chose this profession”. Compassio
n

P4 “For my specialty… freedom to choose the Own choice Own Personal

lifestyle that I like. For medicine… challenge that I Decision choice
can do it”.

P5 “Personality and interest” Interest

P7 2. “The very big factor that I inculcate on my Helping Sustaining Helping

mind by choosing my profession was helping others patients’ people in
others in need, I wanted to help others by not and need and
being recognized that I am a better person but family’s sustaining
rather giving them my best to feel better and help needs family’s
them with their illnesses to ease the pain and stay expenses.
at their bed side until I know they are feeling
okay”.

P8 “Financial. I can sustain my family now”. Financial

help for
family

P12” And giving others the right medical care and Helping
helping the less fortunate patients is my passion less
so I decided to walk in this path”. fortunate
patients

P13 “ Helping other people in need”.

Helping
people in
need
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Majority of participants answered that it was their ambition since they were
children. Some answered that it was their parents’ plan or decision for them while some
decided for themselves. Minority chose it for the money/benefits it brings to their
families, helping others and for their own personal choice. Amaechi (2018) said that
most children dream to become doctors because of their desire to help other people.

Objective No 2: To describe the struggles of doctors in fulfilling their jobs

3. Interview Question No. 3: What are the problems/challenges you face as physician?
Actual Transcripts Open Code Axial Selective Code
Code
P1 “Everyday I face struggles and challenges as Patients
different patients have different diseases. But have
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challenging as it may, you always have to find a varied

way to save that patient's life. Every decision diseases. Hard to The difficulty in
you make can be a matter of life and death”. treat treating
patients patients
P2 “Patients with the terminal diseases such as
stage four cancer patients”. Patients
with
P6 “Having a patient/s uncured with his/her terminal
needs compliance for health”. diseases

P12 “There’s a lot of problems I encounter as a

physician. There are illness that are not easy to
cure and you need to do researches to cure Patients
them. Every day we encounter in our personal with
life. Problems are everywhere and everyday but diseases
as a professional I am capable in handling
them”.

P14 “Patients with disease that is hard to cure Hard to

like terminal stage of cancer”. cure
patients

P7 “Second was when you are rendering some

procedures but you are not confident enough Lack of Lack of Lack of
cause it is your first time but after you did it confidence confidenc confidence and
twice or thrice it’s just nothing on you”. e and fear fear in
conducting
P15 “The greatest challenge that faces Giving medical
physician is how to give safe and effective appropriate procedure
health care”. cure for
disease
P9 “ Ahhh, since I started my practice, ahhh the
challenge I...* paused for a while* the
challenges I always face are...is the fear of Fear of
failing or unable to diagnose and treat my failure
patients correctly”.

P3 ”Isa na yung pagod”. Exhausted Exhaustio Tiredness and

(One is tired.) n and exhaustion
tiredness
P10 “I always stay late due to my work. I am Exhaustion
sometimes exhausted and tired with work.” and
tiredness

P4 “Long training” Long time

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of work Too much Packed

work schedules due
P13 “ Schedule, when there are so many Packed to work
patients sometimes I cannot help other patients schedule
because of time”

Deciding Less time

P4 “Family vs. career” over family with Lack of time
vs. career family with family due
to work
Lack of
P10 “ Time with my family is always shortened”. family time

P3 “Tsaka minsan less time with family and

friends” Less time
(Sometimes I spend less time with family and with family
friends, especially if it’s too busy.)

P12 “ Sometimes family needs are being Family time

sacrificed because I need to do things that will sacrifices
save other people’s life”.

P4 “No support from government to start own No support Short

clinical practice”. from supplied
governmen equipmen
t t Lack of
P11 “Uhm coming from community where Limited government
resources are limited, when it comes to uhh… resources support and
Some unsurvivable procedures, we always have unavailability of
to rely on our clinical judgment when dealing supplies
with difficult cases”.

P5” Patient attitude, differences, perception Patients’

especially patients and medical issues. Those perception
who don’t want to go on check-up and have Patients’
medical clearance before being such attitude
procedure”.
Attitude of
P8 “Sometimes I encounter rude patients and patients Attitude of
they can be stressful”. patients

P12 “There are also patients who do not trust

your abilities as a doctor, but because I enter
this field I should be prepared for this. Every Absence of
day we encounter problems not just in our trust
profession but also in our personal life”.
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P7 “Being Physician was not easy at all. Here

are some of the problems/challenges that the
people that surrounds you, the situations that Toxic
happening to you and when you are on duty environme
especially when it was really really toxic”. nt

The respondents have noted that some of the significant challenges they
encountered are having to deal with difficult diseases, not having time with their loved
ones, having minimal confidence on their abilities, meeting rude patients and having a
hard time acquiring supplies. According to Chest (2018), doctors face challenges
because of rare and uncommon diseases because of the lack of clinical equipment and
medications.

Objective No 3: To define the coping mechanisms of physicians in their

different challenges
4. Interview Question No. 4: How do you cope with the challenges?

Actual Transcripts Open Code Axial Code Selective Code

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P1 “I pray and ask God for guidance

and recall all the things I've learned Prayer for prayers
from medical school, to my internship guidance Seeking Divine
and training. You have to have a strong Intervention
knowledge about almost every diseases
to save someone's life”.
P2 “With prayers”.
praying
P12 “Keep calm and always Pray”.

P4 “A very good relationship with the

Lord is very crucial because the Relationship
challenges can be very life changing”. with God

P6 “Pray, focus, relax and just go with

the flow, always be inspired and always
think positive for the sake of positive praying
results, too”.
P14 “Praying to God about the recovery
of those patients and giving my best to
help the sick people”. Praying for the
patients

P2 “Studying more”. Studying more Widen

capability
P7 “ I always prepare myself that I Gaining more
need to be continues and courteous on Gain more knowledge
everything that surrounds me. And knowledge through studying
always telling myself that if I enter the
hospital there will be a new knowledge
that I will gain and can use on my
everyday living. But sometime if I know
that I cannot make it or do it, I'm
always reminding myself that, every
hard works and sleepless night I've
been it will be worth it and will paid off
and it is for my family to give them a
stable life”.

P9 “Hmmm, sooo...such…such
challenges ahhhh ahmmmm, one must
not stop learning, so...I...I make sure I
am always prepared in every
aspect...ahhhh I study ahhh…each and Perseverance
every case with diligence”. in studying

P15 “Continues medical education”.

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Continuous
medical
education
P3 “Matulog ng maaga kapag kaya Self-care Personal care
tsaka kumain ng sapat para mabawi
yung pagod”.
(Sleep early if possible and eat healthy
to cope with the tiredness.) Taking care of the
health
P10 “Proper time management and get
enough rest during day offs”. Rest

P5 “Just do what you know is right and

ethical and everything”. Do what is
right Right judgment
P12 “Solving multiple problems. As long
as you know your goals and you set Problem Making good
your own standards you can easily solving decisions
solve your problems”.

P11 “I have to settle with any available

resources in the hospital and if I think I Asking for help Referral Recommendation
cannot see or I believe that…this…the to other
proper treatment is not seen in our
setting… I sometimes refer patients to
a much bigger hospital for better…
management and better care”.

Improving
P8 “Tell myself to be always be Patience Tolerance personal traits
patience”.

P12 Also, try to understand on what Understanding

are the reasons why you became a
doctor and what are the…ah your goals
also. But for me the best thing I
learned is that sometimes to
understand others people issues and
needs we need to put our feet in their
shoes so we can also understand their
sides. Understanding and not
Pressuring yourself is the best way to
solve problems.

P15 “ Improving self”.

Improving self
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P12 “The reason why I am still a good Multi-tasking

Doctor is because I handled my Time Time management
problems intelligently. We doctors, are management
trained to do multitasking”.

P13 ” I balance my time and I do

everything that I can so I can help Balancing time
those patients that need my help”.

A large number of participants said that they pray to God to help them cope with
their problems. An article, Overcoming challenges through faith, emphasized that prayer
is one of the things a person can do to lessen the weight of his or her problem
(Orellana, n.d.). This is proven effective to some of the doctors. Meanwhile, some
doctors devote their time to studying to lessen the chances of error, others try making
more time for them to de-stress while others focus on having more patience.

DISCUSSION

Discussion
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This study sought to (1.) identify the source of fulfillment of the doctors in
pursuing their profession (2.) describe the struggles of doctors in fulfilling their jobs and
(3.) define the coping mechanisms of physicians in their different challenges.

Identify the source of fulfillment of the doctors in pursuing their

profession. Most of the respondents said that they are fulfilled with their jobs. This is
due to the fact that these doctors are able to cure their sick patients. As stated by
“Physicians continue” (2016), physicians do not always focus on their rewards and
salary, rather they find satisfaction or fulfillment in being a physician on treating their
patients well and giving them assurance about their health. Meanwhile, other source of
satisfaction of doctors is their capacity to support their family’s needs due to the
monetary reward they receive from their profession.

Identify the struggles of doctors in fulfilling their jobs. The respondents

identified specific struggles they have to deal with every day such as treating patients
with difficult diseases, lacking confidence and possessing fear in conducting medical
procedures, tiredness and exhaustion, tight schedule, lack of family time, lack of
government support and unavailability of supplies and attitude of patients. Chest (2018)
also noted this when he said it is quite tedious for doctors to treat patients with rare
diseases.

Define the coping mechanisms of physicians in their challenges. The

results showed that most of the participants asked for God's help to deal with their
difficulties. Orellana, (n.d), stated that prayers and having a firm belief can lessen the
amount of stress of a person. On the other hand, some deal with their challenges by
devoting their time to improve their craft, some strive to de-stress while others
concentrate on getting more patience and seeking help from family to help them cope.

Conclusion

The research study sought to identify the reasons why doctors remain contented
with their jobs. Despite the struggles, the respondents had experienced such as having
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to deal with rare diseases, difficult patients, lack of family time and resources, the
doctors pride themselves that they remain on their jobs due to the fulfillment they get
from seeing their patients recovering from their diseases. Prakash (2010) supported this
idea stating that the source of satisfaction of most physicians is due to the successful
healing of their patients. Their capacity to support their family’s needs is one thing that
also brings motivation to them to remain their profession.

Recommendation

After reviewing the data gathered, the researchers recommend the following:

To aspiring doctors/medical students. They can plan accordingly for their

future by using this study. They can look at the experience of the doctors to prepare
themselves for the rigorous tasks that are present in the medical field. The study can
also assist them in deciding whether or not the job of a physician is correct for them.

For the Doctors. Doctors can ask help from their family and friends after work
to ease the burnout that they are experiencing. Prayers can be done to strengthen the
self and to not lose hope in life. Having recreational activities can also help boost energy
and to lessen stress.

To the Researchers. They may use the data in this study to supplement their
own research or to expand this current research as the researchers who conducted this
study were limited only to the Pampanga area of the Philippines. They may be able to
better understand the habits and coping mechanisms of doctors, as well as their
personal view on the medical field, including their coping mechanisms.

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