[Job satisfaction in trauma surgery and orthopedics-How do we perceive our roles? : State of the art based on job characteristic theory and an online survey among members of the German Society for Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery].

Authors

Axel Franke, Pauline Harlass, Judith Hattke, Phillipp Hube, Gerhard Achatz, Markus Göbel

Published in

Unfallchirurgie (Heidelberg, Germany). Sep 24, 2026. Epub Sep 24, 2026.

Abstract

There is a high demand within our society for resilient, sustainable and efficient trauma and orthpedic surgery (TOS). The shortage of young professionals threatens the provision of comprehensive care in TOS. Alongside factors, such as payment, working hours and work-life balance, the perceived attractiveness of the role is a key determinant of personal job satisfaction and fulfilment. The relationship between the perception of one's own role, the associated variety of tasks and the resulting job satisfaction, has scarcely been investigated among specialists in TOS. This study examines the self-perception and external perception of the role as well as the attributed job satisfaction, in relation to clinical practice and the stage of specialist training. The study was based, amongst other things, on Hackman and Oldham's 5‑dimensional job characteristics theory. A quantitative online survey was conducted among 8946 members of the German Society for Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery (DGOU). The results show that job satisfaction is lowest amongst those at the start of their careers. The group comprising junior doctors and specialists describe task variety, the holistic nature of the role and feedback as important for their own satisfaction. At the same time, doctors and specialists in training associate career progression with an increase in scores across all five dimensions. In contrast, senior doctors attribute higher scores to the tasks of doctors and specialists in further training across all dimensions than those perceived by the trainees themselves. Feedback and interaction are crucial for how they interact and communicate with one another. The group of doctors and specialists in training regard feedback, diversity of tasks, the holistic nature of the role and autonomy as important and a lack of feedback as demotivating. Action is required, amongst other things, to strengthen mutual understanding in line with the activities perceived in the workplace. Key tools are communication and feedback. The authors identify shortcomings and propose solutions in this article.

PMID:
42782340
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 25 Sep 2026.

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