Snapshots and snippets: general practitioners' reflections on professional space

Health Place. 2007 Jun;13(2):532-44. doi: 10.1016/j.healthplace.2006.07.005. Epub 2006 Sep 25.

Abstract

The paper presents the results of a mixed methods study of British general practitioners' (GPs) reflections on professional space in terms of practice and self-identity. Inter-textual content analysis of 12 biographic and photographic datasets revealed four themes: workspace, re-appropriated space, life space and sacred space. GPs are ambivalent about their working environments, spending time and energy creating 'best fit' spaces, until lack of function becomes an habituated part of daily routine. Whilst some appear helpless in the face of change, others are making their presence felt through embodied, personalized or authorial spaces.

MeSH terms

  • Attitude of Health Personnel*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interviews as Topic
  • Male
  • Personal Satisfaction*
  • Photography
  • Physicians, Family*
  • United Kingdom
  • Workplace*