New Generation Of Doctors Research Articles

John Kingdom Guy Webb

John Webb, who died on 17 August 2010, aged 91, was one of the first generation of doctors who specialised exclusively in the care of children. He had a very...

Undergraduate Anatomy Teaching: Are we Failing a Generation of Future Surgeons?

A sound knowledge of human anatomy underpins good clinical practice. However, changes to the undergraduate curriculum in recent years, in particular a reduced emphasis on applied anatomy, have raised concerns among clinicians that a new generation of doctors are qualifying from medical school with insufficient anatomical knowledge. This is a particularly important concern for those junior doctors wishing to pursue a surgical career and has implications for their early postgraduate training.

I came in with a cough and went out with an oedipal complex and castration anxiety (or what Balint work is not!)

> 'The Balint doctor is seen as taking a firm grip of a patient with tedious physical symptoms and applying a specialised technique of psychiatric enquiry to elicit a psychological, preferably sexual, diagnosis. The correct interpretation is then expected to produce an instant cure.' This amusing caricature, in Elder and Samuel's While I'm here Doctor ,1 has come to typify the response of many to Balint's work. Although the readers of this Journal may have a more informed response, there is undoubtedly a risk that Balint's work will be maligned, marginalised, or even worse, forgotten, by new generations of doctors. In this article, and the succeeding one in the November issue, I will discuss Balint's ideas in both their historical context and their relevance today. It is the fate of the modern GP to consider him or herself over-worked, inadequately rewarded and under appreciated. However, the 1950 account of a visiting Australian, Joseph Collings, makes contemporary general practice seem a cakewalk. He described his reception at a large practice in a densely populated area: > I was made welcome “to see the procession, given a seat and invited to “stay as long as I liked. I was told, not without pride, that “we have seen 500 already today; and I have no reason to doubt it. During my stay of an hour and a quarter about 120 more patients came in. They were “seen” by three different doctors, who replaced one another with almost bewildering rapidity. No pretence was made at real examination of any of these patients. An …

Karriereförderliche und karrierehinderliche Erfahrungen in der Weiterbildungszeit junger Ärztinnen und Ärzte

Postgraduate education after medical school plays an important role in the career development of young doctors. This study investigated what supporting and obstructing factors help or hinder the of young doctors during their specialty training. As part of a broader prospective study on determinants of career development of young doctors which had started in 2001, 529 participants were investigated in 2009 regarding the most important career-relevant factors experienced during their specialty training. Content analysis was used to assign the answers given to open questions to inductively defined categories The 1301 answers given about career-supporting factors and the 1047 answers given about career-hindering factors were assigned to 9 and 12 categories respectively. These categories were divided into internal and external career-relevant factors. Important factors relative to career enhancement were career support by superiors and high achievement motivation, followed by good professional qualifications and beneficial working conditions. The answers given in these four categories accounted for two thirds of all mentioned career supporting factors. Regarding career barriers, the four categories with the highest number of answers were lack of career support, unfavourable work-place conditions, extraprofessional concerns and labour market conditions. Significant gender differences were only be found regarding career-hindering factors: Female doctors mentioned more often mentioned concerns and gender-related barriers, while male doctors more often reported labour market conditions and unfavourable personality traits for influencing career advancement. Career promotion should be provided in a continuous, structured and institutionalized way to make better use of the potential of well trained doctors. The new generation of doctors should not only advocate better professional conditions but also be aware of barriers within themselves that have an impact on their career development.

Generational Differences Among Oncologists: Shaping the Future of Practice.

According to ASCO's recent workforce study, more than half of today's practicing oncologists will be age 65 years or older by the year 2020. As these physicians are replaced by a new generation of doctors, what will oncology practice look like?

Malcolm and Elizabeth Molyneux: making better health in Malawi

Malcolm and Elizabeth Molyneux: making better health in Malawi

The new generation of family physicians--career motivation, life goals and work-life balance.

The present study aimed to investigate the differences between future family physicians, and physicians aspiring to other medical specialities, in terms of sociodemographic factors and variables concerning personality factors, career motivation, career success, importance of life goals and work-life balance; further, the stability in career choice of family physicians from medical school through to residency was evaluated. Data reported are from four assessments of the Swiss physicians' longitudinal career development study, begun in 2001 (T1). At T4, in 2007, 543 residents (76% of the initial sample at T1) completed a questionnaire concerning their personal and professional goals. The difference between family physicians and specialists was studied by multivariate analyses of covariance adjusted for gender. Of the study sample, 84 (17%) decided on family medicine, 66% of them as early as medical school or at the beginning of residency. Compared to specialists, more family physicians are married and more have children. Their intrinsic and extrinsic career motivation is lower, their extraprofessional concerns are greater and they rate their objective and subjective career success lower. The favoured models of work-family and work-life balance respectively are part-time oriented. Future family physicians, both females and males, are less career-oriented. The results suggest that the waning reputation of family medicine and the uncertain development of this medical discipline in the Swiss healthcare system attract less career-oriented applicants. A well-balanced integration of professional and private life is an essential goal for the new generation of doctors; this applies even more to female doctors and family physicians. Considering this trend, the question arises whether the current number of medical school graduates is sufficient to ensure the population's healthcare provision in the future.

Are we teaching sufficient anatomy at medical school? The opinions of newly qualified doctors

In recent decades wide-ranging changes have occurred in medical school curricula. Time spent studying gross anatomy has declined amidst controversy as to how, what, and when teaching is best delivered. This reduced emphasis has led to concerns amongst clinicians that a new generation of doctors are leaving medical school with insufficient anatomical knowledge. Previous studies have established that medical students value their anatomy teaching during medical school. None have sought to establish views on the sufficiency of this teaching. We investigate the opinions of newly qualified doctors at a UK medical school and relate these opinions to career intentions and academic performance in the setting of a traditional dissection and prosection-based course. Overall nearly half of respondents believe they received insufficient anatomy teaching. A substantial proportion called for the integration of anatomy teaching throughout the medical school course. Trainees intent on pursuing a surgical career were more likely to believe anatomy teaching was insufficient than those pursuing a nonsurgical career; however, overall there was no statistical difference in relation to the mean for any individual career group. This study adds to the current debates in anatomical sciences education, indicating that overall, regardless of career intentions, new doctors perceive the need for greater emphasis on anatomical teaching.

The new generation of family physicians--career motivation, life goals and work-life balance.

The present study aimed to investigate the differences between future family physicians, and physicians aspiring to other medical specialities, in terms of sociodemographic factors and variables concerning personality factors, career motivation, career success, importance of life goals and work-life balance; further, the stability in career choice of family physicians from medical school through to residency was evaluated. Data reported are from four assessments of the Swiss physicians' longitudinal career development study, begun in 2001 (T1). At T4, in 2007, 543 residents (76% of the initial sample at T1) completed a questionnaire concerning their personal and professional goals. The difference between family physicians and specialists was studied by multivariate analyses of covariance adjusted for gender. Of the study sample, 84 (17%) decided on family medicine, 66% of them as early as medical school or at the beginning of residency. Compared to specialists, more family physicians are married and more have children. Their intrinsic and extrinsic career motivation is lower, their extraprofessional concerns are greater and they rate their objective and subjective career success lower. The favoured models of work-family and work-life balance respectively are part-time oriented. Future family physicians, both females and males, are less career-oriented. The results suggest that the waning reputation of family medicine and the uncertain development of this medical discipline in the Swiss healthcare system attract less career-oriented applicants. A well-balanced integration of professional and private life is an essential goal for the new generation of doctors; this applies even more to female doctors and family physicians. Considering this trend, the question arises whether the current number of medical school graduates is sufficient to ensure the population's healthcare provision in the future.

Importance of communication between medical specialties: A case series

The importance of communication between the disciplines of medical practice is undeniable. As medicine becomes more specialised and a new generation of doctors is able to acquire less experience in specialties outside their own, so the threshold for consultation with other specialties must become lower. We present three cases of severe acute orthopaedic infection among children, to highlight the importance of interdisciplinary communication in facilitating early diagnosis and treatment. Conditions of serious consequence can otherwise be overlooked.

The main challenges.

The last few decades have witnessed dramatic changes, not only in health, but also in all aspects of human life. From the social point of view, the individual and family are again becoming the focus of attention, and there is an increasing concern about socio-economic conditions and human rights. From the health point of view, morbidity and mortality patterns are changing and many people live longer and fewer people die. The reasons behind these changes are mainly the expansion in knowledge and technology and the concern about our lifestyles. These changes impact heavily on both medical education, the delivery of health services, and the cost of health care. Medical schools should respond by introducing changes in the medical education process and ensure the proper training of a new generation of doctors who are community- and socially oriented, capable of relating to the community and its needs. The health care system should also respond to these changes by restructuring its organization and finance to ensure quality in health care and that health services are not rationed according to an individual's ability to pay. There are apparent advantages in establishing close links between medical education and health care. Both systems and the community stand to gain from these links. Full integration of the two systems could be the final objective but should be preceded by careful study and experimentation.

Background of Discontent — This Little Lot

IT is certainly true that very few older family doctors would like to go back to the conditions of practice before the National Health Service, and a whole new generation of doctors has grown up who have never known anything but National Health Service medicine. The older doctors are glad to be free of the anxiety of bad debts and glad to be rid of the financial barrier in treating their poorer patients and the aged sick. The younger doctors have never had to face these problems. And yet the partnership between the doctors and the State, in the care . . .