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Physicians' Involvement (physician + involvement)
Selected AbstractsEthical Implications of Physician Involvement in Lawsuits on Behalf of the Tobacco IndustryTHE JOURNAL OF LAW, MEDICINE & ETHICS, Issue 4 2007Jess Alderman The statements of physicians who serve as expert witnesses for the tobacco industry reveal subtle but significant problems. Some expert testimony obfuscates the important issues, and some initially reasonable statements later evolve into extreme positions during cross-examination. Such statements fall into a "gray area" of professional ethics, potentially misleading juries and adversely affecting professional integrity. Medical associations can and should strongly enforce professional standards that do not tolerate tobacco industry influence on physician expert witnesses. [source] Patient perceptions of professionalism: implications for residency educationMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 1 2009Michael N Wiggins Objectives, The purpose of this study was three-fold: to identify which behavioural, communicative and personal presentation characteristics most closely represent patients' views of professionalism; to determine whether patients perceive resident doctors as displaying these characteristics, and to explore whether or not resident doctor professional behaviour creates an impression of clinical competence to the degree where patients perceive a decreased need for Attending Physician involvement. Methods, We carried out a descriptive, cross-sectional study at an academic centre. An anonymous, voluntary four-question survey with multiple items was administered to all adult patients or the parents of paediatric patients attending an ophthalmology clinic who were seen by a resident doctor followed by an Attending Physician. Results, A total of 133 of 148 (90%) surveys were returned. All the itemised characteristics of professionalism were reported to be important or very important to the majority of participants. The most important were: ,Pays attention to my concerns' (90%); ,Is compassionate' (83%), and ,Speaks in terms that I can understand' (83%). Although 85% of respondents reported that resident doctors demonstrated all the characteristics of professionalism listed on the survey, 83% of participants stated that it was important or very important that residents have Attending Physician involvement. Conclusions, Patient-centred components of professionalism, such as communication skills and compassion, are more important to patients than social behaviours, such as appearance and acknowledgement of family members. Resident doctors are perceived to display a high level of professionalism during patient care. Patients clearly desire direct resident doctor supervision by an Attending Physician. [source] How Should Clinicians Describe Hospice to Patients and Families?JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 11 2004David J. Casarett MD Objectives: To describe hospice enrollment from the perspective of bereaved family members and to identify information about hospice that would encourage patients and families to enroll sooner. Design: Cross-sectional interviews. Setting: Three Medicare-certified hospice organizations. Participants: One hundred family members of 100 patients who died in hospice. Measurements: Semistructured interviews assessed prior knowledge of hospice, patients' and physicians' involvement in the enrollment process, features of hospice that motivated enrollment, and features that patients and families wished they had learned about sooner. Results: Almost all family members (n=92) and patients (n=71) knew about hospice before the patient's illness. Almost half the patients (n=44) were not involved at all in the hospice enrollment decision. The patient's physician (n=51) or the patient or family (n=34) initiated most hospice discussions, but patients and families usually obtained information about hospice from a hospice representative (n=75) rather than from the patient's physician (n=22). Family members identified several kinds of information about hospice that were particularly helpful in deciding whether to enroll and described several aspects of hospice that they wished they had known about sooner. Conclusion: Many patients and families learn about hospice from someone other than the patient's physician, and most learn about valuable hospice features and services only after enrollment. By providing more information about hospice earlier in the illness course, clinicians may be able to facilitate more-informed and more-timely decisions about hospice enrollment. [source] A pilot study to determine support during the pre-treatment phase of early prostate cancerPSYCHO-ONCOLOGY, Issue 6 2005Ulrike Boehmer While we know about physicians' involvement in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, little is known about others who assist men in dealing with the diagnosis and treatment choices, once they are diagnosed with early prostate cancer, but not yet treated. This pilot study explores if men use other sources of support and the roles and functions of support providers. We conducted separate individual interviews with 21 men diagnosed with prostate cancer and 18 persons identified by the diagnosed men as their support provider. Some of the men diagnosed with prostate cancer reported not relying on a support provider, others identified other men already treated for prostate cancer, others' their partner. The provided support consisted of informational and emotional support. Men already treated for prostate cancer provided informational support. Spousal support depended on the diagnosed partner's willingness to accept emotional and/or informational support. Due to the variation in diagnosed men's support, we recommend that physicians inquire about patients' sources of and interest in support. This will reveal which patients rely almost exclusively on physicians, when deciding on a certain treatment. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||