Where Do Most Physicians Lean on the Political Spectrum?
A Rasmussen Report[9] in May 2011 reported that 29% of American voters characterize themselves as both fiscal and social conservatives, and only 10% said that they are liberal in both areas. In the Medscape poll, physicians seem to be slightly more extreme on either side. When asked about their political leanings, approximately 37% of male physicians and 25.5% of women defined themselves as being conservative both socially and fiscally. Only 18.4% of male physicians but 27.5% of female physicians described their views as being liberal in both areas. When broken down, the great majority of physicians are fiscally conservative (77% of men and 68.9% of women), regardless of their social leanings. Women tended to be more liberal both socially (66.8%) and fiscally (31.1%) than their male peers (58.6% and 23%, respectively).
When looking at political biases by specialty, the most conservative physicians (reporting themselves as conservative fiscally and socially) tended to be in the operating room: plastic surgeons (82.2%), orthopaedists (82%), anesthesiologists (80%), urologists (79.4%), ophthalmologists (77.6%), and general surgeons (76.5%). The most liberal physicians (both socially and fiscally) were infectious disease physicians (74.4%), psychiatrists (72.1%), intensivists (67.7%), neurologists (64.1%), and oncologists (63.5%) (see Table 3).
Table 3. Physicians' Political Leaning
| Specialty | Fiscally Conservative |
Socially Liberal |
|---|---|---|
| Anesthesiology | 80.29% | 51.17% |
| Cardiology | 75.33% | 54.20% |
| Critical Care | 64.58% | 67.71% |
| Dermatology | 73.82% | 59.45% |
| Diabetes & Endocrinology | 63.33% | 62.22% |
| Emergency Medicine | 76.10% | 57.57% |
| Family Medicine | 69.22% | 52.53% |
| Gastroenterology | 71.88% | 56.46% |
| General Surgery | 76.54% | 52.19% |
| HIV/ID | 51.05% | 74.48% |
| Internal Medicine | 63.19% | 58.39% |
| Nephrology | 64.04% | 62.15% |
| Neurology | 61.78% | 64.15% |
| Ob/Gyn & Women's Health | 71.80% | 58.73% |
| Oncology | 66.31% | 63.52% |
| Ophthalmology | 77.62% | 56.03% |
| Orthopaedics | 82.01% | 47.83% |
| Other (please specify) | 70.48% | 57.98% |
| Pathology | 69.22% | 58.24% |
| Pediatrics | 60.97% | 62.28% |
| Plastic Surgery | 82.21% | 53.74% |
| Psychiatry & Mental Health | 55.37% | 72.16% |
| Pulmonary Medicine | 66.16% | 57.93% |
| Radiology | 76.12% | 57.84% |
| Rheumatology | 68.69% | 57.48% |
| Urology | 79.47% | 54.18% |
Medscape Internal Medicine © 2012
WebMD, LLC
Cite this: Carol Peckham. Profiles in Happiness: Which Physicians Enjoy Life Most? - Medscape - Mar 22, 2012.
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