If psychiatrists had it to do over again, most would still choose a career in psychiatry.

Psychiatrists appear to be relatively satisfied with their career choice compared with physicians in other specialties, with more than three-quarters of those surveyed in a nationwide questionnaire saying they would still choose a career in psychiatry knowing what they know now. Moreover, the percentage of psychiatrists responding in that way has risen substantially in the last three years.

Those were some findings from a survey of 795 U.S. psychiatrists and other specialists by Epocrates, a for-profit firm that manufactures mobile drug-reference tools for health care professionals and the health care industry.

Eighty-three percent of surveyed psychiatrists said they would choose the specialty again if they were starting their medical career over. That's up from 70 percent in 2007 and compares favorably with physicians in cardiology (70 percent), endocrinology (76 percent), and primary care (70 percent).

Specialists in gastroenterology and oncology had higher percentages, with 86 and 84 percent, respectively, saying they would choose to enter the same specialty again.

Other findings in the survey include the following:

The Epocrates survey is conducted by surveying physician customers who "opt in" to participate in market research. The full survey is posted at <www.epocrates.com/company/mediaroom/mediaresources/statistics.html>.