Lives Of Doctors Research Articles

Public's Perception and Knowledge of Using Robotics in General Surgery in Eastern Region, Saudi Arabia.

Robotics in general surgery is a field that involves the use of robotic systems to assist surgeons in performing various types of surgical procedures. The objective of this study was to evaluate the perception and knowledge of robotic surgery among the Eastern Region's population. This cross-sectional study used an electronic questionnaire that was developed using Google Docs. It included males and females aged above 18 years who lived in the Eastern Province. Participants who were below 18 or above 65 years of age, or non-Saudi, or people who lived in other than the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia were excluded from the study. A total of 500 responses were received via the Google Form, and 81 subjects of them were excluded from the study. Approximately half of the participants were aware of the existence of general robotic surgery, while the other half had no prior knowledge about it. When assessing the participants' understanding of how robotic surgery works, a significant proportion provided incorrect responses. In terms of the advantages of general robotic surgery, the most commonly recognized benefit was that it makes the doctor's life easier, followed by more accurate surgical results. However, the participants' understanding of the disadvantages of robotic surgery was not as accurate. A substantial portion of participants were unsure about the disadvantages. The general public of the Eastern Region in Saudi Arabia showed a derated level of knowledge about the use of robotics in general surgery. Furthermore, a major portion of people were unaware of the availability of robotic surgery in Saudi Arabia. Educational programs are warranted to facilitate the implantation of robotic surgery in Saudi Arabia.

Computerized analysis of hypomimia and hypokinetic dysarthria for improved diagnosis of Parkinson's disease

Background and ObjectiveAn aging society requires easy-to-use approaches for diagnosis and monitoring of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson's disease (PD), so that clinicians can effectively adjust a treatment policy and improve patients' quality of life. Current methods of PD diagnosis and monitoring usually require the patients to come to a hospital, where they undergo several neurological and neuropsychological examinations. These examinations are usually time-consuming, expensive, and performed just a few times per year. Hence, this study explores the possibility of fusing computerized analysis of hypomimia and hypokinetic dysarthria (two motor symptoms manifested in the majority of PD patients) with the goal of proposing a new methodology of PD diagnosis that could be easily integrated into mHealth systems. MethodsWe enrolled 73 PD patients and 46 age- and gender-matched healthy controls, who performed several speech/voice tasks while recorded by a microphone and a camera. Acoustic signals were parametrized in the fields of phonation, articulation and prosody. Video recordings of a face were analyzed in terms of facial landmarks movement. Both modalities were consequently modeled by the XGBoost algorithm. ResultsThe acoustic analysis enabled diagnosis of PD with 77% balanced accuracy, while in the case of the facial analysis, we observed 81% balanced accuracy. The fusion of both modalities increased the balanced accuracy to 83% (88% sensitivity and 78% specificity). The most informative speech exercise in the multimodality system turned out to be a tongue twister. Additionally, we identified muscle movements that are characteristic of hypomimia. ConclusionsThe introduced methodology, which is based on the myriad of speech exercises likewise audio and video modality, allows for the detection of PD with an accuracy of up to 83%. The speech exercise - tongue twisters occurred to be the most valuable from the clinical point of view. Additionally, the clinical interpretation of the created models is illustrated. The presented computer-supported methodology could serve as an extra tool for neurologists in PD detection and the proposed potential solution of mHealth will facilitate the patient's and doctor's life.

Ambiente educacional y bienestar mental de los residentes de posgrados médicos y quirúrgicos en Medellín, Colombia

IntroductionOne of the most important moments in a doctor's life occurs when they do a medical residency. This period imposes stress and academic demands, which, together with the educational environment, allows for greater or lesser mental wellbeing. The objective of this study was to determine how the educational environment and mental wellbeing of medical residents are related. MethodsAnalytical cross-sectional study, in residents of clinical-surgical specialties. The educational environment was assessed using the Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM), and mental wellbeing was assessed with the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS). Pearson's linear correlation was determined. Informed consent and approval by the university ethics committee were obtained. ResultsThe study population comprised 131 students, 43.8% male, with a median age of 28 years (interquartile range 4). In total, 87.9% of residents answered the survey. Of these, 65.9% were doing medical residencies and 34.1% surgical residencies. The mean PHEEM score was 107.96±18.88, the positive emotions subscale was 29.32±5.18 and positive functioning 23.61±3.57, with a mean total mental wellbeing of 52.96±8.44. A positive and moderate correlation was found between the total PHEEM score and each of the two mental wellbeing subscales (p <0.001). ConclusionsA positive correlation was found between a better perception of the educational environment and mental wellbeing by residents of clinical and surgical specialties with greater mental wellbeing.

Burnout: The Resident Evil - Perspectives from the Horses' Mouth!

Burn-out is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterized by three dimensions- (1) feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, (2) increased mental distance from one's job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job and (3) reduced professional efficacy. Any profession where a certain amount of emotional work and empathy are expected renders a person vulnerable to being burned out. Resident doctors, who play the role of a primary care-giver and spend a great deal of time with patients, are most prone to suffer. However, early identification and necessary intervention would go a long way in making the three formative years of a doctor's life more worthwhile.

Utilisation avisée des réseaux sociaux pour la gestion de la e-réputation des médecins internistes français — proposition de recommandations

Social networks (or SoMe) expanded exponentially over the last ten years, including healthcare. SoMe have changed the doctor's daily life and the relationship with patients. Poor management of SoMe can impact on “e-reputation”. On the other hand, the proper use of SoMe allows the opening up of new functionalities in both clinical and research settings. Several scientific societies have made recommendations for the proper handling of SoMe in order to protect the personal information and privacy of physicians. Professionals are advised to differentiate between a professional account and a personal account. Confidentiality settings and certain “codes” for managing publications must be followed. Physicians must be aware that their publications are indelible and can damage their “e-reputation”. The proper handling of SoMe will allow internists to organize their bibliographic monitoring, increase the altmetric of their articles, facilitate communication between researchers and modify the relationship with their patients.

Burnout among house officers in Myanmar: A cross-sectional study.

BackgroundBurnout can result in a serious negative impact on a doctor's life, the quality of patient care, and the healthcare organization. This study aims to determine the prevalence of burnout and factors affecting burnout among the house officers in Myanmar.Materials and methodsAn exploratory cross-sectional quantitative survey study was conducted using a self-administered, web-based survey. House officers working in any of the government hospitals in Myanmar were invited to participate in the study. The survey link was distributed online via Facebook. To measure burnout, we utilised a non-proprietary single-item measure, validated to serve as a reliable substitute for the Maslach Burnout Inventory Emotional Exhaustion (MBI:EE). To measure global life satisfaction, the validated Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) was used. The questions for the scales regarding the psychosocial environment were extracted from the long version of the validated Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ II). The scales selected were “possibilities for the development”, “meaning of work”, “commitment to workplace”, “recognition”, “social support from colleagues” and “social support from supervisors”. Multiple logistic regression method was applied to determine the factors associated with burnout.ResultsRegarding the prevalence of burnout, out of 159 participants, 42.8% (n = 68) of the participants had no symptoms of burnout. 57.2% (n = 91) had one or more symptoms of burnout. Multivariate analysis showed that the only significant factor associated with burnout was “recognition” (OR 0.96, 95% CI: 0.94–0.97, P < 0.001).ConclusionFrom this study, we have determined the relatively high burnout prevalence and that recognition is the only preventive factor; increase in recognition will decrease the odds of burnout. Hence, urgent interventions are recommended to prevent undesirable effects on both health professionals and patients. Recognition for work done should always be in the heart of the health authorities and medical community in Myanmar.

The doctor is a social animal. The lives of those who care between reading, writing and human relationships.

This is a letter to a young friend who has become a paediatrician. It is a senior paediatrician, trying to transmit something useful, that writes it. The lives of those who care are made of many human relationships, a lot of reading, more different interpretations of these relationships and these readings. Each of us will build over the years their ethical model, their ability to discuss new problems and new cases with colleagues, their ability to critically analyse the scientific literature as well as the willingness to listen to patients and families. In other words each of us builds their own way of being a doctor. In fact, as the doctor's life goes on over the years, each of us builds "their" own defects. And with time the new and old defects will overlap as well as our most beautiful aspirations. Our way of being doctor changes for many reasons, but mainly it changes due to the effect of the world around us. The doctor's life enters into people's lives. Our defects enter into people's lives and are hard to change, far more than to interpret. Writing is the best way to enter our lives, to remain alert, to discover how "our" consciousness is shaped and by whom. Scientific journals have their own rules, and these rules do not always coincide with those of honest writing, but another friend asked the author to try to make them compatible and so he discovered that sometimes these rules could even be helpful. Good friends are the key to becoming a doctor.

Signification of Income in a Doctor's Life Theater

Materialism has been invading in every aspect of human life. Materialistic character is believed to be harmful if affecting on professions which fundamentally bring humanity values such as a medical doctor. This research aims to make understandings of the signification of income in a doctor's perspective. Doctor is a humanist profession, and differs from accountant materialistically taught from the beginning. This research employs dramaturgy method in need to data analysis. The result in this research showed that income in a doctor's perspective covers spiritualism income, mercy income, sincerity income, inner-satisfaction income, and materialism income. Humanist income denotes that, for a human being, income is a sufficiently physical-need fulfillment as a gift from God which is mercifully, sincerely gained and distributed to reach the primary goal that is inner satisfaction.

Burning bright or burning out?

Ophthalmology is a rapidly evolving field: Therapeutic models are constantly evolving and so are the drugs used. Striking examples of this would be the treatment of choice for age-related macular degeneration. A decade or so ago the treatment would have been different from what is advised today; refractive surgery too is another subspecialty where one has to be constantly updated with current research and techniques. The need to be constantly updated with one's profession can be an added source of stress to an already stressful life that a doctor leads. While it is only prudent that the patient himself or herself, weighs all options, evaluates the pros and cons of any treatment or surgery, and willfully consents for it, often times, we find ourselves in the unenviable position of being asked to make decisions on the patients’ behalf. Other factors such as unpredictable work hours, mental exhaustion, emotional fatigue, challenging patients, and workplace related issues can all contribute what is now becoming a significant issue – physician burnout. It is a state of mental exhaustion caused by the doctor's professional life, and is characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a reduced sense of accomplishment or success and it is largely an unrecognized entity.[1] Burnout can also affect professionalism, the quality of care offered, and even increase the risk for medical errors in addition to cause issues with personal lives as well.[2] Beyond the clinical aspect of practice, it is time to introspect, assess, and look into the quality of the lives, we ourselves are leading. It is time leaders in ophthalmology who make an attempt to tackle these issues. Staying on the same topic of life beyond the realm of clinical practice, Saurabh et al.[3] in their insightful study have attempted to assess the work-family balance and satisfaction among male and female ophthalmologists in India. This information is vital as work satisfaction directly affects the efficiency of health care delivery system of a country. While on one hand, it is reassuring to read that male and female ophthalmologists alike find the field equally rewarding, it is of concern to find that a significant number of female ophthalmologists reported having been subjected to physically uncomfortable gesture or being in physically uncomfortable position due to their gender at workplace. Only if the morale and job satisfaction levels of the entire work force are high can they be more productive; only if we are able to achieve good work-life balance can we lead fulfilling and gratifying lives and this applies to us, ophthalmologists as well. In this issue, we have a host of interesting articles: Raizada et al.[4] presented and discussed the management of nontractional diabetic macular edema comparing the outcomes of pars plana vitrectomy with three intravitreal injections of bevacizumab in a comparative study. Yadav et al.[5] have presented the outcomes of different techniques of pterygium excision with conjunctival autografting in a pediatric population. This issue also carries an article on a highly debated topic – comparison of cost effectiveness of small incision cataract surgery versus phacoemulsification and the quality-adjusted life years of subjects. This article by Dr. Amitava et al.[6] studies a sample of 52 subjects.

Burnout in physicians.

Increasing numbers of doctors are experiencing burnout now more than ever before and the worrying part is that what we see is just the tip of the iceberg. Burnout, a state of mental exhaustion caused by the doctor's professional life, is characterised by emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and a reduced sense of accomplishment or success. Burnout has been largely ignored or under-recognised previously. This paper provides a perspective on burnout among doctors, including an overview of symptoms, the scale of the problem, the implications and causes of burnout and, finally, a strategic framework to provide a basis for managing it. Most importantly, professional bodies are urged to start taking steps to help troubled doctors. Medical Colleges should provide essential assistance, support and guidance as well as ensuring fair management and promotion policies.

Why a career in psychiatry?

To reflect upon the factors that might motivate one to undertake a career in psychiatry from the personal perspective of a current registrar in training. The reasons for choosing a career path in psychiatry are complex, and relate to an individual doctor's life experience, training experiences and own value system. Dissatisfaction with the traditional "medical model" of illness may be a contributing factor, with a perception that psychiatry may embrace the biopsychosocial model of illness more fully. Beyond this, a particular interest in the poetry inherent to an individual's story and appreciation of the artistic underpinnings of medicine may also contribute.

Removal of doctors from practice for professional misconduct in Australia and New Zealand

ObjectiveTo examine how disciplinary tribunals assess different forms of misconduct in deciding whether to remove doctors from practice for professional misconduct.Design and settingMultivariable regression analysis of 485 cases in which...

A call for inspiration

What inspires you? What was the moment that turned your mind to medicine? Whose influence cast a spell that set your future course? Perhaps it's hard to pinpoint an event or an experience that galvanized you? Medicine is a career of variety and unexpected paths, and this month I'll be speaking to sixth form and GCSE students in the hope of offering some inspiration as they consider a life of doctoring. JRSM readers with children of that age will know that preparations begin early in these competitive times. Gone are the days of a last minute impulse on a university application form. Today's students mount a four-year campaign to gain a place at medical school, armed with entry criteria, exam preparation, interview training, and work experience. When sixth form principals advise sagely on the difficulties of students winning an Oxbridge place, their one consolation is: “It could be worse, you could be applying for medical school.” What most medical students don't realise is that they are entering a career of infinity possibilities. Medicine's multi-specialty nature means that there is a medical career to suit all personalities. Your degree is merely the key to an Aladdin's cave of opportunity, a blessing that is hard to appreciate on a thankless night on call or in the middle of a disastrous ward round. Many doctors are fortunate to experience a variety of specialities as they find the one that they were destined for. Nor is variety confined to medicine. The broad experiences of a doctor's life help many people turn to second careers as managers, business people, writers, performers, politicians, and revolutionaries. Add in foreign travel and the international nature of many specialties, and medical school becomes more than a passport to a career. But how can you know that when you fill in your university application? How do you know what it takes to be a cardiologist, an orthopaedic surgeon, a microbiologist, a clinical director, or even a journal editor? How do you know that medicine, a career that might seem glamorous from the way the media portrays doctors, is the right career for you? For amid the myriad of exciting opportunities lie as many avenues of misery, hurt, and disillusionment. Imagine you are sitting in front of a hall full of sixth form students or young doctors on graduation day. What would you say to them about what inspires you? What was the moment that transformed your career? Share that inspiration and that moment with JRSM readers by sending in a submission for our Podium section. In these days of demoralization, a little inspiration is a welcome pleasure.

Night Call: Poems

Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Communications and UpdatesFull AccessNight Call: PoemsRon Charach, M.D., F.R.C.P.Ron CharachSearch for more papers by this author, M.D., F.R.C.P.Published Online:1 Dec 2011https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2011.11060811AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail by AblonSteven Luria. Austin, Tex., Plain View Press, 2011, 87 pp., $14.95 (paper).The emotive material in a doctor's life (the spiritual counterpoint to the more physical Materia medica) cries out for poetic illumination, yet the psychiatrist/poet, or in the case of Steven Luria Ablon, a psychoanalyst/poet with several collection of poems, is a truly rare species.R.D. Laing wrote a tortuously dignified prose, but his poems (as in the book Knots) relished in their ability to confuse the reader. Another psychiatrist/poet, Richard Berlin, has for several years hosted a column in Psychiatric Times. He penned a remarkable poem titled “How JFK Killed My Father,” which anchored a book by the same name. Yet the gold standard for physician poetry in English has been set not by psychiatrists but by physical medicine internists, such as Welsh respirologist Dannie Abse, American cardiologist John Stone, and internist Rafael Campo. How well their work compares with poems on medical themes written by lay poets could be debated, but in my own biased view, very well indeed.That is remarkable, since we physicians, after all, are educated out of our natural minds, and psychiatrists perhaps doubly so. The aspiring psychiatrist/poet must avoid the pitfall of lapsing into prosy medical jargon that, even for a moment, can spoil the mood of a poem. There may also be a tendency to become self-congratulatory about how noble or self-sacrificing it is to wade into the muck of diseased bodies and disordered minds. In this slender book, Dr. Ablon offers some 67 poems, rather neatly divided into three sections titled “Medical School,” “Residency,” and “Practice.” The poems in the first section are by far the most affecting because medical school is a crucible of experience that no poetically sensitive student can emerge from unmoved, or even unshaken.When he reviewed for the New England Journal of Medicine an anthology of Canadian physician-written poems I edited, titled The Naked Physician, John Stone quoted his father's remarks about one of his son's books, “Some of the poems are better than others.” The same can be said of the short poems in Night Call, none of which extends beyond three-quarters of a page. There are moments when Ablon reveals genuine imagistic power, worthy of a developing writer whose creative writing instructor once told him: “Just break my heart.” His strong opening poem “Cadaver” recalls Dannie Abse's powerful poem on the gross anatomy lab, “Pathology of Colours.” Ablon's poem ends with the wonderful lines, “Who kissed the crater cheek, this chin,/ the death we call Penelope” (p. 13).It may simply not be possible to write an excellent poem with a prosaic title like “Disrupted Attachment” or “Associative Anamnesis,” which unnecessarily narrows the poet's audience. Yet there are a dozen memorable poems in this book, and on the whole, it makes for a warm and inviting read, something that cannot be said about many books of modern poetry.There is a lovely poem on Guillain-Barré syndrome, another on cystic fibrosis, and a third titled “Aspirating a Lung,” which contains surprising baseball metaphors. Here is what the good doctor has to say in a poem nicely titled “Walking Rounds”:Let me not dispel the refuge/ patients keep beneath their sheets// like icebergs in an arctic ward./ In the first bed, purulent sores,// integument slack as tires flat./When I place my hand upon her arm,// I am transformed by the blood/ of my mothers and fathers.// Every bed embraces a malady/ too terrified to sleep. (p. 17)Toronto, Ont., CanadaThe author reports no financial relationships with commercial interests.Book review accepted for publication October 2011. FiguresReferencesCited byDetailsCited ByNone Volume 168Issue 12 December 2011Pages 1343-1344 Metrics PDF download History Accepted 1 October 2011 Published online 1 December 2011 Published in print 1 December 2011

Patients, cells, and organelles: The intersection of science and serendipity

Patients, cells, and organelles: The intersection of science and serendipity

Buchbesprechungen

MycosesVolume 4, Issue 4 p. 144-144 Buchbesprechungen First published: December 1961 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0507.1961.tb03301.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Abstract Book reviewed in this article: Taschenbuch der Medizinischen Mykologie Manual de Micologia Médica. Microbes, Men and Monarchs. A Doctor's Life in Many Lands. Volume4, Issue4December 1961Pages 144-144 RelatedInformation

Under the Microscope

This is a personal account of life in the United Kingdom National Health Service by a pathologist who has worked there for 25 years. The principles of clinical governance are embraced by the medical profession, but their application is often insensitive, governmental and bureaucratic. A doctor's working life is now less autonomous, less centred on the patient and less fun. Medical humanities are a balm for the sore spots but not, I think, used consciously so by management, likely suffering from the same bureaucratic governmentality that sees value in nothing-unless it can be measured.

A Theology of Illness: Franz Kafka's "A Country Doctor"

Franz Kafka's "A Country Doctor,"the story of a physician whose life is predicated on duty and responsibility, and yet who ultimately fails as healer and physician, is one of the first modernist stories about doctoring. In this perplexing story Kafka struggles to find the meaning of "duty" in a doctor's life as well as the relationship of "duty" to Kafka's concept of "faith." Kafka may have borrowed many of the concepts and images in his story from Nietzsche's On the Genealogy of Morals. But unlike Nietzsche, who was an atheist, Kafka was a religious skeptic. This story reflects his ambivalence toward his Jewish faith. He argues for the importance of faith by confronting its absence: How are we to live without it? Without faith, can physicians perform their duty to heal? Kafka believes that illness is fundamentally spiritual in origin, that physicians need moral knowledge to truly heal, and that the practice of medicine should be an act of faith.

A Doctor's Life Can Sometimes Be Hairy.

A Doctor's Life Can Sometimes Be Hairy.

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