The Perception of Attitude as a Factor that Affect Professionalism among General Physicians of Primary Health Care Centers in Saudi Arabia

Background: Medical professionalism is considered, in modern clinical practice as the basis of the social contract between physicians and their society. It encompasses a wide range of values such as altruism, accountability, excellence, duty, service, honor, integrity, and respect for others. It has been researched extensively in the Western world, but only a dearth of studies exist in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 157 physicians working in primary health care centers in Abha and Khamis-Mushayt cities of Saudi Arabia. The study tool was a self-addressed validated questionnaire. Results: Participants in the study were 157 general physicians, of whom 63.7% were males. The Saudis were 84.1%. The mean of experience of work in years was 3.5 years. Only, 50.3% had training in medical professionalism training, whereas 49.7% did not receive any training in professionalism (the mean number of training sessions was 3.1). The mean score of professionalism was 109.1 (out of a potential total of 130 points). Participants with High professionalism were 49%, while 49.7% were found to have moderate professionalism, and only 1.3%, was with poor professionalism. Factors related to a significantly positive association with professional behavior were; higher age, being married, being non-Saudi, higher qualifications (like Diploma/MSc), increased practice experience, and professional training one is involved in. Conclusion: The participant physicians reported high levels of professional behavior. However, there is a need to focus on addressing job satisfaction factors to improve participants’ practice attitude and subsequently increase professionalism.