Dynamics of doctors’ assessment of the medical profession’ prestige in the context of social well-being: before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

The article examines the dynamics of doctors’ assessment of the medical profession’s prestige before and during the coronavirus pandemic on the materials of two empirical studies in 2017 and 2021-2022. On the one hand, a satisfactory level of doctors’ social well-being in Rostov Oblast was recorded, and according to the questionnaire survey data, against the background of the pandemic there was an increase in the prestige of the profession in the doctors’ perception, especially those who worked with coronavirus infection and received appropriate additional payments. On the other hand, in the in-depth interviews, physicians articulate the problems that remain relevant even during the pandemic, despite the support measures taken. Increased occupational risks and threats pose a destructive potential for the future prestige of the medical profession.