Doctor's sense of mission affects patients

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 1 (UPI) -- A doctor's self-identity is key to where he/she will choose to work, a U.S. researcher says.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, found physicians serving in an underserved community have a strong sense of responsibility for, and identification with, the people of that community developed either by having come from there or having trained there.

The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, found three themes explaining physicians' choice of practice location: Personal motivators, career motivators and clinic support.

"The findings highlight the importance of identifying doctors who are motivated by mission-based values such as a sense of responsibility to a particular community or patient population early in medical training," Dr. Kara Odom Walker said in a statement

Walker, the study leader, and colleagues based findings on in-depth interviews with 42 Los Angeles County African-American, Hispanic and non-Hispanic white primary care physicians in both underserved and adequately served areas.