Introduction: A public health doctor of Korean medicine is a term public official under the Military Service Act of the Republic of Korea and is the subject of Korean medical treatment and Korean medicine public health promotion programs in the field ...
Introduction: A public health doctor of Korean medicine is a term public official under the Military Service Act of the Republic of Korea and is the subject of Korean medical treatment and Korean medicine public health promotion programs in the field of public health care. Unlike doctors of Korean medicine in the private sector, public health doctors of Korean medicine who perform public health promotion programs more actively are in a position to provide necessary health promotion services and education to the underprivileged in the community rather than simply focusing on treatment. As a result, the degree and performance of the program are greatly influenced by the motivation to serve the public as well as the professional knowledge of doctors of Korean medicine. To this end, it is necessary to find out the degree of Public Service Motivation(PSM), which is a unique motivation for the public sector presented by Perry & Wise (1990), and Job Satisfaction recognized as essential for work motivation.
Until they are appointed as public health doctors of Korean medicine, prospective public health doctors of Korean medicine focus on their professional knowledge and skills as doctors of Korean medicine at Korean medicine universities and affiliated Korean medicine hospitals. In other words, before serving as a public health doctor of Korean medicine, they do not have an opportunity to learn in earnest about the tasks mainly performed by public health doctors of Korean medicine, such as Korean medicine public health promotion programs. This can be said to be an important variable that determines their level of motivation and job satisfaction to serve the public.
Despite the importance of confirming public service motivation and job satisfaction and organizational socialization at the time of working as a public health doctor of Korean medicine, there have been few studies analyzing the motivational factors of public health doctors of Korean medicine.
Therefore, as their organizational socialization variables, we would like to analyze the impact of work experience (Work Ambiguity, Psychological status of Work Characteristics) and working years on public service motivation and job satisfaction within the workplace. Based on this, I would like to understand the current status of the public health doctor of Korean medicine system and suggest future improvement measures.
Method: As of March 2023, when the survey of this study was conducted, a total of 1,010 public health doctors of Korean medicine were assigned to and working at health centers across the country. Through the Association of Public Health Doctors of Korean Medicine, an online survey was conducted on public health doctors of Korean medicine who are currently working. After explaining the purpose of analyzing whether work experience (work ambiguity, psychological state of work characteristics) and working years as organizational socialization variables of public health doctors of Korean medicine affect public service motivation and job satisfaction, consent was confirmed. Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were conducted using a sample of 244 people (about 24% of the total) who responded after agreeing to the survey, and empirical analysis such as multiple regression analysis was conducted focusing on the significant results.
Results: As a result of the study, it was found that among the dependent variables, in the case of public service motivation, psychological status of work characteristics among public health doctors of Korean medicine was the organizational socialization factor that had a significant effect. In other words, there was a positive (+) correlation in which the level of public service motivation increased as the psychological state of work characteristics was strengthened. Although it was not significant, work ambiguity showed a negative (-) correlation in the total area of public service motivation, Commitment to Public interest, Self-Sacrifice, and except for the area of Compassion. Among the general characteristics of public health doctors of Korean medicine, the number of years of work did not significantly affect the public service motivation.
Among the dependent variables, job satisfaction also showed a positive (+) correlation that increased as the psychological status of work characteristics was strengthened, and at a significance level of .1, it was confirmed that higher job ambiguity had a negative effect on job satisfaction. It was also found that the working year did not significantly affect job satisfaction.
Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it can be thought of as a way to strengthen the psychological status of public health doctors of Korean medicine's work characteristics, that is, to increase their public service motivation and job satisfaction. Reducing the ambiguity of how to perform tasks and the work process in performing Korean medicine public health promotion programs by public health doctors of Korean medicine is also expected to help increase public service motivation and job satisfaction. Finally, it was found that the working years of public health doctors of Korean medicine did not significantly affect public service motivation and job satisfaction. However, it is noteworthy that in all working years of public health doctors of Korean medicine, the total area of public service motivation, commitment in the public interest, and self-sacrifice scores among the detailed areas were less than 3 on a 5-point scale. Since public health doctors of Korean medicine are the subjects of providing public medical services on the front line, they should have a responsibility to contribute to the public and the people by fostering high public service motivation. Therefore, in order to increase the level of public service motivation, it is necessary to actively provide job attitudes and ethics education for public health doctors of Korean medicine.