Many published clinical trials are poorly designed, suggesting that the protocol was incomplete, disorganised or contained errors. This fact, doctors’ limited statistical skills and the shortage of medical statisticians, prompted the development of a knowledge-based aid, Design-a-Trial, for authoring clinical trial protocols. Designa-Trial interviews a physician, prompts and guides them through...

A focus on the primary care workforce is critical when discussing plans to address the fractured United States health care system. However, we must first address the primary care physician shortage crisis when planning for health care reform which focuses on increasing access to the US population. Initial strategies may include improving reimbursement rates for primary care services, incentiviz...

Medicare has begun to implement a new payment system for physician services; the system's cornerstone is a resource-based relative value scale (RBRVS) that divides physician services into three components--physician work, practice expense, and malpractice insurance--and calculates a relative value for each component. The relative values for the components are adjusted for geographic differences...

The Medical Journal of Australia ISSN: 0025729X 1 February 2010 192 3 116-116 ©The Medical Journal of Australia 2010 www.mja.com.au Editorials Various explanations regarding why this professio have been advanced. Clearly, PAs fit well in the e American health care system; economic advantages, c ity and dependence on doctors are factors that cont success. But it is other countries that are build...

Physician-scientists are catalysts of translational research. With one foot in the practice of medicine and the other in research and discovery, they are uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between laboratory and bedside. In so doing, they enhance patient care, improve medical education, and increase the prosperity of the biomedical enterprise. Although, science has never been more accessible...

l r a t i w o m i c t w g p o a a There is growing national concern regarding the future adequacy of our physician workforce. The general population aged more than 65 years is predicted to double by 2030, and increased age is commonly accompanied by greater health care needs. The physician population also is aging; 1 in 3 active physicians is currently aged more than 55 years and likely to reti...

Background The progress in aging and the shortage of physicians is a significant problem in Japan. Hence, healthcare professionals including pharmacists should cooperate to provide medical services with limited resources. However, pharmacists might have inadequate skills in taking medical histories. Therefore, we developed an interview tool to collect accurate medical history. In this study, we...

Goold and Stern (2006) offer a much needed dose of insight into the weakness of medical education from the perspective of resident and nonresident physicians. One of their findings pertains not to insufficiencies in existing coverage of particular topics, but to absence of coverage of particular topics, including “the learning environment and resident-attending interactions” (Goold and Stern 20...