Relationship between professional identity and social support among general practitioners in Shandong province

Objective To investigate the status of and the relationship between professional identity and social support among general practitioners in Shandong province.Methods Totally 399 general practitioners were selected from 3 regions with different economic conditions in Shandong province and surveyed with Professional Identity Scale and the Social Support Scale.Pearson correlation analysis and hierarchical regression analysis were used to explore the relationship between professional identity and social support among the general practitioners.Results The average overall scores for professional identity and social support were 3.56±0.55 and 3.87±0.51,respectively.The score of professional identity was positively correlated with social support (P < 0.01).Hierarchical regression analysis showed that organizational support,resident support and team support were predictors of professional identity among the general practitioners.Conclusion The professional identity and social support are at low level and social support is an important influencing factor for professional identidy among general practitioners in Shandong province;social support needs to be promoted for the improvement of professional identity in general practitioners.