Taking Care of Those Taking Care of Us - A qualitative study of motivational factors of physicians working in the Swedish public healthcare sector

Sammanfattning: This is a qualitative study using an inductive approach with the purpose of investigating what motivates physicians working within the Swedish public healthcare sector. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with ten doctors, ranging from Resident Physicians at the lowest hierarchical level to Specialist Consultants, at six different Swedish hospitals, working within six different specialties. In order to understand and analyze the interviewees' motivation a framework based on the Self-determination Theory was used and questions were asked regarding the interviewees' interest in their profession, work tasks, and the organization, culture and leadership of their workplaces. The study found that, in relation to intrinsic motivation, the need for competence and the need for relatedness were of importance for the interviewees' motivation. The study did not find indications of any patterns of what is of importance relating to the interviewees' extrinsic motivation. The results of the study are in line with the general framework that the Self-determination Theory provides.