Abstract

This study was designed to investigate whether recruitment of physicians and dentists has been restricted to a social network, such as familial or kinship groups. The data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire survey distributed to a sampling of general physicians, specialists (internists, surgeons, other specialists), and dentists in August 1990. The major findings are as follows: 1) Total number of respondents was 405; of these, general physicians made up 48.9%, internists 10.4%, surgeons 15.8%, other specialists 4.9%, and dentists 20.0%. 2) 38.5% of the respondents had physicians or dentists in their immediate family or were related in some way to one. Those from urban areas, whose parents were highly educated, and whose father was a professional had more physicians or dentists in their family or kinship. 3) Parents of 7.1% of the respondents, brothers or sisters of 10.1%, grand parents of 1.7%, uncles or aunts of 7.9%, and cousins of 22.0% were physicians or dentists. 4) The majority of physicians or dentists in familial or kinship network specialized in surgery, 32.3%, followed by internal medicine ; current worksites were noted as clinics by 30.8%, followed by general hospital, university hospital, and so on. The respondent's major discipline tended to follow familial or kinship example. Consequently, it was concluded that physicians and dentists have been recruited within restricted familial or kinship network.