Medical Physician Stratification: An Instrumentation with Pre-test by Allied Health Faculty

 

Introduction

 

In the main, physicians are stratified by standard sociological criteria of class, status, and power (Cockerham, 1998)

 

Power

 

Power is the ability to control others over their wishes. In Cockerham (1998:194) there appears to be three levels of stratification. The highest is administrators of powerful hospitals, directors of pharmaceutical companies, health matienence organizations, and other medical businesses. The second is star researchers who command large pharmaceutical grants and publish textbooks and articles in prestigious journals. They have a large research staff that reports to them. The third is practioners who form their own ranking within this level of stratification. The "inner fraternity" have an excellent upscale practice, have at least weekly contact with other alpha male practitioners, and command large salaries. The outer core is the "friendly outsiders" general practitioners, women, and minorities. The furthermost from the center are those that have fallen from the elite, rural practices, impoverished patients,

 

Prestige

 

Prestige is the honor that is given to medical practitioners. A North-Halt scale and other measures suggest that medical practitioners are the most prestigious occupation in the United States (Miller, 1991). A Snell -Alien Prestige Instrument indicated below measures prestige of the major subfields of medicine as indicated by Medical Economics (1994) It has been pre-tested for efficacy and applicability with allied health faculty (N=10) and consensusually validated. (Instrumentation about here)

 

Class

 

Class is the economic dimension of stratification. How much does a medical practitioner make from annual income or capital gains? Medical Economics (1994) suggest that there are 12 representative fields from the over 80 board certified medical practitioner specialties. By income level from the highest to the lowest, they are:

1.Surgeons

2. Radiologists

3. Obstetric/gynecological specialists

4. Gastroenterologists

5.Cardiologistst

6.Anesthesiologists

7. Ophthalmologist

8. Internists

9. Pediatricians

10. Psychiatrists

11. Family practitioners,

12.General practitioners.

 

Conclusion

 

It would appear that in the area of medical sociology, medical anthropology and medical social psychology, further research should explore the prestige of the ranks of the 12 medical subfields as well as the over 80 medical specialties.

 

References

 

Cockerham, William C. (1998) Medical sociology. Upper Saddle River, NJ, Prentice Hall, 194-198.

 

 Miller, Delbert (1991) Handbook of Research Design and Social Measurement, London, Sage Publications, 327-364. (See also "the doctor is in" Business Week, June 9,1997,4)

 

, (1994) Physicians' average net income after expenses before taxes. Medical Economics, September.