Doctors

The survey has three main focus areas:
1. The economic and social situation of doctors in Freiburg.
2. The structure of the relationships between medical colleagues and the relationship between doctor and patient.
3. Professional further education of doctors and their acceptance of innovations.

Topics: Educational history; number of colleagues: relationship of
respondent to patients and to health insurance companies; attitude to a
joint practice; time worked each week; time spent on administrative
duties and rough division of time budget; judgement on various
professional activities; employment of external consultants; number of
patients treated daily; information on the structure of patients
according to membership in health insurance schemes, fluctuation,
proportion of trivial cases as well as somatic and psychological
illnesses; attitude to self-medication and influence of patients on
treatment; acceptance of new medications; number of prescriptions of
birth control pills; judgement on cooperation and communication with
medical colleagues; reading of technical journals; use of opportunities
for further education and participation in technical conferences;
attitude to psychotherapy; professional image and prestige; general
judgement on medical competence of colleagues; job satisfaction;
membership in professional organizations, academic societies and
associations as well as judgement on the activities of these
organizations; professional political offices; personal publications in
technical journals; attitude to the patient´s right to a second opinion
on diagnoses; attitude to unjustified reporting of patients as sick;
social origins; annual turnover and value of practice equipment; type
of car used.

Demography: age; sex; marital status; number of children; religious
denomination; school education; vocational training; further education;
regional origins.

Interviewer rating: willingness of respondent to cooperate; effects of
the presence of other persons during the interview; interviewer
identification; length of interview; number of interruptions.

Also encoded were: number of telephone calls required to arrange
interview; reasons for non-completion; title and position; recognition
of respondent as specialist; field of specialization; number of
patients referred; number of patients in local {AOK} and alternate
{Ersatzkasse} health programs; joint practice. The latter information
was obtained from records of the General Medical Council.