In medicine, it is critical that clinicians demonstrate both empathy (perceived as warmth) and competence. Perceptions of these qualities are often intuitive and are based on nonverbal behavior. Emphasizing both warmth and competence may prove problematic, however, because there is evidence that they are inversely related in other settings. We hypothesize that perceptions of physician competenc...

In a quality and cost-conscious health care environment, the pediatrician and emergency physician must work as a team. This statement clarifies important issues of this relationship, including coordination of patient care, communication between clinicians, provision of continuity care, and responsibility for quality emergency care.

BACKGROUND Lebanon suffers from a large scale emigration of physicians coupled with an oversaturation of the physician job market. Lebanon is currently witnessing an expansion of its medical education capacity with the establishment of new private medical schools, raising the fears of a worsening market oversaturation. DISCUSSION The neighboring Arabian Gulf countries are suffering from a ser...

Implementation of practice guidelines is a beguilingly complex activity that requires attention to the task of clinicians, the constraints they face, and the social practice of medicine. Local clinical opinion leaders can accelerate the pace of change by encouraging early adoption and modeling new practices. "Tough love" approaches to guideline adoption have a role in raising the salience of th...

This study projects that the per capita supply of alternative medicine clinicians (chiropractors, naturopaths, and practitioners of oriental medicine) will grow by 88 percent between 1994 and 2010, while physician supply will grow by 16 percent. This increase is associated with growth in the number and size of alternative medicine colleges and in the opportunities these graduates have for licen...

PURPOSE Clinicians often are required to switch prescribed therapy for their patients in response to health plan initiatives for controlling drug expenditures. To explore the effect of these initiatives, we sought clinicians' feedback regarding their practices and processes for switching patients' medications to accommodate insurance coverage. DESIGN Self-administered Intranet-based survey of...

PURPOSE We describe the proportion of family physicians providing care of any sort to pregnant women in the United States from 2000 to 2009. METHODS We used a repeat, cross-sectional design with data from the nationally representative Integrated Health Interview Series (2000-2009) for respondents who reported being pregnant at the time of the survey (N = 3,204). Using multivariate logistic re...

When provided by a skilled, multidisciplinary team, palliative care is highly effective at addressing the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs of dying patients and their families. However, some patients who have witnessed harsh death want reassurance that they can escape if their suffering becomes intolerable. In addition, a small percentage of terminally ill patients receiving...

INTRODUCTION In the two cases described here, the subclavian artery was inadvertently cannulated during unsuccessful access to the internal jugular vein. The puncture was successfully closed using a closure device based on a collagen plug (Angio-Seal, St Jude Medical, St Paul, MN, USA). This technique is relatively simple and inexpensive. It can provide clinicians, such as intensive care physic...

Abstract Objectives While national medical guidelines recommend genetic testing for all individuals with non-syndromic autism spectrum disorder (ASD), there is underutilization of testing. This study aims to define the perspectives and approaches initial ASD diagnosticians in order improve utilization. Methods A prospective cross-sectional was conducted using an anonymous online survey distribu...