Income and vocational integration of Brazilian physicians since the establishment of the National Health System.

OBJECTIVE To analyze trends relating to physicians' vocational integration and income composition from the Pesquisas Nacionais por Amostra de Domicílio (PNAD - National Household Sampling Surveys). METHODS PNAD microdata from 1988, 1993, 1998 and 2003 were analyzed in relation to demographic, social and occupational parameters. In the exploratory analysis, trends relating to physicians' employment and income were considered. Statistical associations were evaluated by means of the chi-square test. RESULTS Regarding the demographic profile, a trend of increasing presence of women and of professionals over 55 years of age was observed, with a continuing high proportion of whites. Regarding occupation and income, there was an increase in entrepreneurialism among physicians and maintenance of high income, in relative terms, especially among those who combined the occupations of employee and employer. CONCLUSIONS The possibility of examining individualized characteristics of occupation and income, along with physicians' many professional ties, which albeit in a limited manner can be done through PNAD, contributes towards deepening the comprehension of the patterns and changes in Brazilian physicians' integration in the labor market since the implementation of the Sistema Unico de Saúde (SUS - National Health System).