Suchergebnisse

The Malta College of Family Doctors, a founder-member of the WONCA Region Europe - European Society of General PracticejFamily Medicine, was represented by College President Dr Denis Soler MD FRCGP and Honorary Secretary Dr Mario R Sammut MD at the Society 's Inaugural Conference in the Hemicycle, the Meeting Room of the European Parliament, Strasbourg, France on the 6th and 7th October 1995. The idea of an ,umbrella academic society to coordinate all European organisations offamily medicine originated in Lenzburg, Switzerland, during a meeting in January 1993 initiated by SIMG, Societas Internationalis de Medicinae Generalis. In Collaboration with WONCA, the World Organisation of Family Doctors, a 'Group of Eight' was formed which, together with the European bodies responsible for teaching (the European Academy of Teachers in General Practice EURACT), for research (the European General Practice Research Workshop - EGPRW) and for quality assurance (the European Working Party on Quality in Family Practice - EQuiP) in family medicine, worked hard to create the structure of the European Society of General Practice/Family Medicine (ESGP) which was inaugurated in Strasbourg. Through its academic role, the Society will complement UEMO, the political body of family medicine in Europe. ; N/A

Background Substantial variations are still to be found in the strength of general practice/family medicine (GP/FM) across Europe regarding governance, workforce competence and performance, as well as academic development and position. Governments are encouraged by the WHO to secure high quality primary health care to their population, a necessity for reaching the goal "Health for all". The present study aimed at investigating the opinions of council members of the European Academy of Teachers in General Practice (EURACT) on necessary actions to strengthen the position of GP/FM in their country. Methods The study used a mixed methods exploratory sequential design. EURACT representatives from 32 European countries first participated in brain-storming on how to strengthen GP/FM in Europe. Later, representatives from 37 countries were asked to individually score the relevance of the proposed actions for their country on a 9-point Likert scale. They were also asked to evaluate the status of GP/FM in their country on four dimensions. Results Respondents from 30 European countries returned complete questionnaires. To build and secure GP/FM as an academic discipline comprising teaching and research was seen as essential, regardless the present status of GP/FM in the respective country. To build GP/FM as a specialty on the same level as other specialties was seen as important in countries where GP/FM held a strong or medium strong position. The importance of common learning objectives and a defined bibliography were stated by respondents from countries where GP/FM presently has a weak position. Conclusions In order to strengthen GP/FM throughout Europe, EURACT and other professional organizations must establish common goals and share expertise between countries. To influence decision makers through information on cost-effectiveness of a GP/FM-based health care system is also important.

Women's medicine explores the key role played by British female doctors in the production and circulation of contraceptive knowledge and the handling of sexual disorders between the 1920s and 1970s at the transnational level, taking France as a point of comparison. This study follows the path of a set of women doctors as they made their way through the predominantly male-dominated medical landscape in establishing birth control and family planning as legitimate fields of medicine. This journey encompasses their practical engagement with birth control and later family planning clinics in Britain, their participation in the development of the international movement of birth control and family planning and their influence on French doctors. Drawing on a wide range of archived and published medical materials, this study sheds light on the strategies British female doctors used, and the alliances they made, to put forward their medical agenda and position themselves as experts and leaders in birth control and family planning research and practice.

Explores four questions regarding the impact of medical malpractice liability costs by analyzing data from a variety of sources. Examined are differences between states and overtime in malpractice payments and premiums, the physician workforce, use of and spending on medical procedures, and health insurance premiums. Findings indicate that indirect and anecdotal evidence on the effects may be misleading. Increases in malpractice payments do not seem to be driving premium increases. Increases in malpractice costs do not seem to affect the overall size of the physician workforce, although they may affect some subsets of the population more severely. The strongest effect of greater malpractice pressures is found in the increases use of imaging services, but little evidence is found of increased use of major surgical procedures. It is concluded that state-level tort reform is unlikely to affect medicine by averting local physician shortages.

Comprehensive knowledge of blood transfusion practices among clinicians has an important role in provision of safe blood but continuous education and the academic rigor is not as versatile in private sector as in tertiary hospitals. The objective of this study is to evaluate the knowledge of clinicians in private practice in Ibadan on transfusion medicine. Eighty-one medical doctors from the 5 urban local government areas were enlisted in a multistage sampling technique. Self-administered questionnaires were employed and data analyzed using SPSS. Majority of clinicians were between the ages of 30-40 years (43.2%), had practiced for 0-5 years (42.0%) and prescribed blood transfusion at least once a month (44.4%). Male: female ratio was 4:1. The proportion of correct answers to the questions about age, minimum weight, Systolic Blood Pressure and Diastolic Blood pressure as criteria for selection of blood donor were as; 56.8%, 72.8 %, 71.6% and 81.5%, respectively. The proportion of correct answers to the questions on contraindications for the transfusion of platelet and cryoprecipitate were as; 54.3% and 9.9 %, respectively. The overall Knowledge score ranged from 22.0% to 93.0% (Mean= 49.0%; SD=37.7%). The mean knowledge score of indications and contraindications for transfusion of blood components are 79.2% and 34.2%, respectively. The study demonstrated significant gaps in knowledge of transfusion medicine. This can be closed by a more deliberate review of medical curricula, continuous medical education by professional groups and relevant stakeholders, as well as, a state-wide clinical audit of transfusion services.

This study aimed to determine the prevalence of high levels of knowledge, positive attitude, and good practice on evidence-based medicine (EBM) and identify the associated factors for practice score on EBM among emergency medicine doctors in Kelantan, Malaysia. This cross-sectional study was conducted in government hospitals in Kelantan. The data were collected from 200 emergency physicians and medical officers in the emergency department using the Noor Evidence-Based Medicine Questionnaire. Simple and general linear regressions analyses using SPSS were performed. A total of 183 responded, making a response rate of 91.5%. Of them, 49.7% had a high level of knowledge, 39.9% had a positive attitude and 2.1% had good practice. Sex, race, the average number of patients seen per day, internet access in workplace, having online quick reference application, and attitude towards EBM were significantly associated with EBM practice scores. It is recommended that appropriate authorities provide emergency doctors with broader access to evidence resources. EBM skill training should be enhanced in the current medical school curriculums.

To promote the range of interventions for building family/general practice (family medicine) research capacity, we describe successful international examples. Such examples of interventions that build research capacity focus on diseases and illness research, as well as process research; monitor the output of research in family/general practice (family medicine); increase the number of family medicine research journals; encourage and enable research skills acquisition (including making it part of professional training); strengthen the academic base; and promote research networks and collaborations. The responsibility for these interventions lies with the government, colleges and academies, and universities. There are exciting and varied methods of building research capacity in family medicine.