Opinions Of Physicians Research Articles

Opinions of Medical Staff Regarding Antibiotic Resistance.

Antibiotic resistance poses a significant threat to public health, that can lead to reduced effectiveness of many therapies, increased morbidity, longer hospitalization times, increased deaths, and additional costs for health care systems. Unreasonable use of antibiotics may result from a lack of adequate knowledge about antibiotic therapy and a lack of knowledge of the risks associated with antibiotic resistance, both among medical personnel and patients. The primary objective of the study was to verify the opinion of medical personnel on the risks associated with antibiotic resistance. The study was conducted in 2023 among 605 Polish sanitary workers. An anonymous survey designed specifically for the purpose of the study was used. The survey was made available on the Internet through the Trade Unions of Pharmacy Workers and directly to hospitals with the support of local authorities. The majority of respondents were women (77.36%). The largest group consisted of individuals over 40 years of age (55.04%). More than half of the respondents were nurses (56.20%), and every fourth of the respondents was a physician (23.64%). Most respondents consider antibiotic resistance to be a very serious (24.13%) or extremely serious (30.75%) problem. The problem of antibiotic resistance on a global scale was mentioned, especially in the opinions of physicians and nurses (p < 0.01), people working in the profession for over a year (p < 0.01), and people with a specialization or undergoing specialist training (p = 0.00). Similarly, these groups most often indicated that antibiotic resistance poses a problem in their workplace. The main problems of antibiotic resistance were the use of antibiotics in farm animals (36.69%), the pressure on patients to take antibiotics (38.84%), and the prophylactic use of antibiotics (43.15%). Medical personnel consider antibiotic resistance a somewhat serious problem, although not all agree in this regard. The risk of antibiotic resistance is much more seriously assessed by physicians and nurses, as well as by people with specializations or undergoing specialization training. Knowledge about antibiotic resistance should be further spread among all groups of medical personnel.

Therapeutic potential of culinary spices: applications, efficacy, and optimal dosage - A review

Spices have long been used in the kitchen and have therapeutic properties. Ayurveda prescribes specific instructions for administering any medicine, such as an examination of Prakriti (individual constitution), Agni (digestive capacity), Dosha (individual humors)[1] ,and so on, as well as the cautious usage of certain medicines to guarantee optimal and safe use. In today's society, spices are used to stimulate the immune system, yet using spices as medicine inadvertently may have an unwanted effect on the body. This review attempts to objectively analyse the probable detrimental effects of medicinal plants used as spices and interpret the concern of Ayurveda in order to use these spices more effectively. According to the Spices Board of India, there are 52 spices classified, and 31 medicinal plants have been discovered for use as spices in Indian cuisine and home medicines beginning with 06 Nighantu.[14]Collected data was checked for reported adversities on several search engines, yielding 20 plants with indications of potential adverse effects. Furthermore, essential Ayurvedic principles were presented to help people use these spices more effectively, get the most out of them, and minimize any potential negative effects. This emphasizes the significance of using spices with caution and getting the opinion of an Ayurvedic physician before consuming them as medicine.

Implementing an Early Detection Program for Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Polish Primary Healthcare Setting-Possible Obstacles and Experiences from Online ASD Screening.

A screening questionnaire for autism symptoms is not yet available in Poland, and there are no recommendations regarding screening for developmental disorders in Polish primary healthcare. The aim of this study was to assess the opinions of parents and physicians on the legitimacy and necessity of screening for autism spectrum disorders, potential barriers to the implementation of the screening program, and the evaluation and presentation of the process of online ASD screening, which was part of the validation program for the Polish version of one of the screening tools. This study involved 418 parents whose children were screened online and 95 primary care physicians who expressed their opinions in prepared surveys. The results indicate that both parents and doctors perceive the need to screen children for ASD in the general population without a clear preference as to the screening method (online or in person). Moreover, online screening is considered by respondents as a satisfactory diagnostic method. Therefore, online screening may prove to be at least a partial method of solving numerous obstacles indicated by participants' systemic difficulties including time constraints, the lack of experienced specialists in the field of developmental disorders and organizational difficulties of healthcare systems.

Telephone consultation as a sustainable method of service delivery in occupational medicine: results of a qualitative study

Since the pandemic, telephone consultation is still widely used in Occupational medicine practice, but with a seemingly huge variety depending on the different occupational medicine departments and companies. Telephone consultation could be considered a sustainable alternative to face-to-face consultation in the long term. The aim of this research project was to start an evidence base for the opinions of Occupational Health Physicians (OHPs) regarding telephone consultation. This study also sought to gather further information on the perceived benefits and limitations of telephone consultation as per its current users (OHPs) and identify ways to improve the practice of telephone consultation. This research project involved interviewing Occupational Health Physicians and analysing the data collected (using thematic analysis) so that the utility of telephone consultation as a means of consultation could be reviewed [12-16]. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with eighteen specialist occupational medicine physicians in Ireland. Data was initially coded and then organised into themes. The main findings from this research project identified five themes: Quality of Care, Professional Standards, Barriers to Telephone Consultation, Optimal Use of telephone Consultation, and Potential Improvements and Useful Change for Telephone Consultation. Some of these themes have previously been identified in research from other medical specialities. Upon consideration of the themes and subthemes identified in this study, telephone consultation could be used by Occupational Health Physicians as an adjunct to face-to-face consultations and in some cases as a direct alternative. Further research into this area with pilot studies or comparative trials will provide definitive answers as to the role of telephone consultation in occupational medicine into the future. Telephone consultation would appear to be a sustainable method of service delivery in occupational medicine. Clinical governance for telephone consultation in Ireland is currently lacking with no clinical guidance available specific for occupational medicine. If telephone consultation is to be considered a sustainable method of service delivery in Occupational medicine, a solid foundation of clinical guidance and governance will be required.

Role of Physician in Fitness before Surgery

A preoperative checkup is necessary for every patient undergoing surgery. A physician's opinion is vital in deciding the suitability of major or minor surgeries by assessing the health status of the patients. Multiple parameters must be monitored and recorded, including a proper history, thorough clinical examination, and an appropriate laboratory checkup. By assessing pre and perioperative risks, the physician can optimize the patient's medical conditions to reduce morbidity and mortality, improving outcomes and quality of life. This chapter discusses these topics at length and provides recommendations for fellow practitioners.

Refusals and Requests: In Defense of Consistency.

Physicians place significant weight on the distinction between acts and omissions. Most believe that autonomous refusals for procedures, such as blood transfusions and resuscitation, ought to be respected, but they feel no similar obligation to accede to requests for treatment that will, in the physician's opinion, harm the patient (e.g., assisted death). Thus, there is an asymmetry. In this paper, we challenge the strength of this distinction by arguing that the ordering of values should be the same in both cases. The reason for respecting refusals is that, in such cases, autonomy outweighs well-being. We argue that the same should be true in request cases, which means that requests should not be denied only due to the treatment being too harmful in the physician's opinion. Our strategy is to consider and reject a number of arguments for the asymmetrical view, including an appeal to the doing-allowing distinction and positive and negative rights. The duty to respect refusals is still greater than the duty to grant requests on our view, but, by arguing that the ordering of values is the same in both cases, we show that there is less of a distinction in healthcare between requests and refusals than many currently believe.

Auguste François Chomel (1788-1858) and his Work on Rheumatism: Introducing Rheumatic Heart.

In the early 19th century, Auguste François Chomel gathered the knowledge on rheumatism, systematised it, and published it in his majestic work Pathologie Générale. In his treatise, for the first time, rheumatic heart was discussed. Taking into account the opinions of the ancient Greek physicians, he had described the disease as an acute or chronic manifestation of the inflammation of the heart due to rheumatism. His publication rendered rheumatic heart an issue in vogue for his era, a disease being mentioned in all textbooks of the internal pathology.

Classification of Early Breast Cancer using Convolutional Neural Networks

Breast cancer is a life-threatening disease that impacts millions of people worldwide, necessitating heightened awareness and effective early detection strategies. Current methods for determining the presence and type of breast cancer in a clinical breast exam conducted by healthcare providers may be inaccurate, imprecise, and prone to error. The goal of this research project is to offer a second opinion for physicians to predict whether or not a patient has early onset breast cancer through a machine learning model developed from an image dataset, to significantly reduce the error in breast cancer staging, making the process more efficient in healthcare. Early detection is crucial for successful treatments of breast cancer, as treatment options in late-stage diagnosis of breast cancer can have a much worse prognosis. In the US, 240,000 cases of breast cancer are diagnosed per year in both men and women with a mortality rate of approximately 42,000 per year. [1] To approach this problem, I have tested an MLP Classifier, Logistic Regression, Ridge Classifier, Random Forest Classifier, Decision Tree Classifier, Support Vector Classifier, and trained a Convolutional Neural Network to compare various results and determine the best accuracy. The Convolutional Neural Network yielded impressive outcomes, reaching up to 79% testing accuracy and 98% training accuracy. The final model exhibits the capability to identify early signs of breast cancer and differentiate between malignant and benign tumours with relatively high accuracy showing the potential of AI in combination with medical imaging that can assist medical staff in diagnosis.

Global Expanded Access Program for Pemigatinib in Patients with Previously Treated Locally Advanced or Metastatic Cholangiocarcinoma and Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor Gene Alterations.

Pemigatinib is a fibroblast growth factor receptor-2 (FGFR2) inhibitor approved for use in patients with previously treated cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) and FGFR2 fusions or rearrangements. This ongoing global Expanded Access Program (EAP) allows physicians in regions where pemigatinib is not commercially available to request pemigatinib for patients with locally advanced or metastatic CCA who, in the physician's opinion, could benefit from pemigatinib treatment. Eighty-nine patients from Europe, North America, and Israel were treated from January 2020 through September 2021. Patients had FGFR gene fusions (68.5%), rearrangements (12.4%), translocations (5.6%), amplifications (2.2%), and other alterations (11.2%). Median duration of treatment in the EAP was 4.0 months (range, 0.1 to 13.6 months). The most frequently reported adverse event (AE) was hyperphosphatemia (22.5%); the most common serious AE was cholangitis (3.4%). Treatment discontinuation was associated with reports of AEs for seven patients (7.9%). AEs associated with pemigatinib were consistent with those observed in clinical trials. Efficacy was not assessed in this EAP. However, some patients remained on treatment for up to a year, suggesting that they observed a benefit from treatment. Patients with CCA should undergo molecular testing to identify those who could benefit from targeted treatments such as pemigatinib.

Assessment of Knowledge and Attitudes of Physicians and Pharmacists on Probiotics: A Cross-Sectional Survey.

Probiotics have been gaining increased attention from the public recently, which originates concerns about their rationale use among healthcare professionals. Although there is evidence on the efficacy and safety of probiotics in certain gastrointestinal disorders, it is important to identify healthcare professionals' opinions on probiotics. This study aimed to identify the opinions of pharmacists and physicians on the use of probiotics. This cross-sectional study was conducted between November, 2017 and August, 2018 among pharmacists and physicians practicing in Ankara, Türkiye. An electronic survey was designed and sent to the participants via e-mail. A total of 361 pharmacists (74.5% female) and 356 physicians (42.4% female) participated in the study. Approximately two-thirds of pharmacists and physicians were familiar with the mechanism of action and indications of probiotics. Most pharmacists and physicians recommended probiotics to be used in gastrointestinal system disorders (99.7% and 97.7%). Other areas that probiotics are commonly recommended was genitourinary system (29.3%) by pharmacists and dermatological symptoms (15.1%) by phycisians, respectively. Considering patient advice regarding the probiotics, pharmacists (63.3%) seemed to receive more requests compared to physicians (30.9%); and with regard to the probiotic recommendation, 70.7% and 38.2% of pharmacists and physicians, respectively, indicated that they have no concerns, but 61% of physicians have concerns on reimbursement policy when prescribing. Pharmacists and physicians are healthcare providers commonly asked about probiotics by patients. Therefore, it is important to address healthcare professionals' concerns and increase their knowledge of the use of probiotics for different health conditions. Given that probiotic products can be purchased without a prescription, healthcare professionals in primary care settings should be more vigilant about the rational use of probiotics.

Efficacy of Ethanol Sclerotherapy Versus Laparoscopic Excision in the Treatment of Ovarian Endometrioma.

The purpose of this study was to examine the recurrence rates of ovarian endometrioma, dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, and related complications between sclerotherapy and laparoscopic ovarian cystectomy in individuals aged 25 to 38. Eighty-eight women participated in this retrospective, single-center study between January 2020 and February 2022. Patients received either laparoscopy or sclerotherapy, depending on the opinion of the pertinent physician. In this study, the following parameters were retrospectively analyzed in follow-up visits 2, 6 and 12months after sclerotherapy and laparoscopy: dysmenorrhea and dyspareunia by visual analog scale, complications following the intervention, and serial pelvic sonograms for endometrioma cyst recurrence. Moreover, serum Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) level before and 6months after sclerotherapy/surgery were analyzed. The collected data were then analyzed using R software. The results demonstrate the efficiency of both sclerotherapy and laparoscopic techniques in reducing endometrioma-related dysmenorrhea and dyspareunia over a 12-month period. There was no statistically significant difference in the occurrence of complications and recurrence rate between these two therapies, and both are equally beneficial. Also, the rate of AMH decline after laparoscopy was higher than sclerotherapy; however there was not a statistically significant change in serum level of AMH in laparoscopy compared to the sclerotherapy after 6months. Considering all the data, it appears that sclerotherapy, with its lower cost, shorter hospital stay, and quicker return to activities, can be a laparoscopic alternative to endometrioma cyst removal. More studies are required.

Opinions of Nurses and Physicians on a Patient, Family, and Visitor Activated Rapid Response System in Use Across Two Hospital Settings

Early detection of deterioration of hospitalized patients with timely intervention improves outcomes in the hospital. Patients, family members, and visitors (consumers) at the patient's bedside who are familiar with the patient's condition may play a critical role in detecting early patient deterioration. The authors sought to understand clinicians' views on consumer reporting of patient deterioration through an established hospital consumer-initiated escalation-of-care system. A convenience sample of new graduate-level to senior-level nurses and physicians from two hospitals in South Australia was administered a paper survey containing six open-ended questions. Data were analyzed with a matrix-style framework and six steps of thematic analysis. A total of 244 clinicians-198 nurses and 46 physicians-provided their views on the consumer-initiated escalation-of-care system. Six major themes and subthemes emerged from the responses indicating that (1) clinicians were supportive of consumer reporting and felt that consumers were ideally positioned to recognize deterioration early and raise concerns about it; (2) management support was required for consumer escalation processes to be effective; (3) clinicians' workload could possibly increase or decrease from consumer escalation; (4) education of consumers and staff on escalation protocol is a requirement for success; (5) there is need to build consumer confidence to speak up; and (6) there is a need to address barriers to consumer escalation. Clinicians were supportive of consumers acting as first reporters of patient deterioration. Use of interactive, encouraging communication skills with consumers was recognized as critical. Annual updating of clinicians on consumer reporting of deterioration was also recommended.

Medical Doctors Approaches and Understanding of Health Literacy: A Systematic Literature Review.

A physician's role is critical in fostering patient health literacy (HL) and influencing various aspects, including patient-physician communication and treatment effectiveness. The purpose of this systematic literature review is to analyze physicians' perspectives, comprehension, and management of HL. The focus of this review is on physicians' views, opinions, experiences, and strategies related to HL. We conducted comprehensive searches across seven databases, including PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, Science Direct, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar. Original research articles published between January 1, 2009, and July 31, 2020, were considered for inclusion. This literature review incorporates qualitative studies and mixed-methods studies, with a focus on extracting qualitative data. Among the 22 articles included in our review, we employed the method of inductive thematic analysis for data analysis. A detailed description of the review methodology can be found in a previously published protocol available through PROSPERO (CRD42020212599). The themes that emerged from the thematic analysis include: (a) physicians' perception and management of HL; and (b) barriers. The results of the systematic review reveal that healthcare professionals exhibit varying perceptions of patients' HL levels and ascribe different meanings to it. However, none of them employ a specific measuring tool. While there appears to be no uniform approach to managing patients with low HL, some prioritize certain communication strategies, such as repetition, simplified language, and providing written instructions, among others. Most physicians cited multiple barriers that impede the development of patients' HL, including dysfunctions within the healthcare system, staff shortages, managing a large number of patients, limited time, work-related stress, cultural and socio-economic barriers, medical jargon, and language barriers. Considering the pivotal role of physicians in fostering patient HL, it is crucial to enhance medical education in addressing and managing HL, both within academic curricula and through continuing education seminars. Furthermore, there is a pressing need to improve healthcare professionals' working conditions, ensuring that each physician can allocate the necessary time to each patient based on their individual needs, without being hindered by stress-inducing work environments.

Knowledge, Attitudes and Opinions of Physicians on Cups Treatment

Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the knowledge, attitudes and thoughts of physicians about complementary medicine and cupping therapy in particular. &#x0D; Material-Method: Between October 1, 2018 and December 10, 2018, a questionnaire consisting of 27 questions was applied face-to-face to 435 physicians working in various health institutions in Ankara and who agreed to participate in the survey voluntarily. Chi-square analysis and logistic regression analysis methods were used in the evaluation of the data. The significance level was taken as 0.05 in the interpretation of the results.&#x0D; Results: The person's liking to practice medicine, having sufficient knowledge about traditional medicine, receiving training on traditional medicine, practicing traditional medicine, having him and his relatives practice traditional medicine, having positive and negative knowledge and experience about cupping, are effective in welcoming cupping practice positively (p

Optimal management to prevent acute kidney injury in patients with acute coronary syndrome in the opinion of physicians from cardiology, nephrology and internal medicine departments – a multicentre survey study

Introduction and objective: Multivessel coronary artery disease affects approximately 50% of patients with acute coronary syndrome. Revascularisation should not only address the culprit lesion, but should include other significant coronary stenoses. The currently accepted approach involves performing a second angioplasty during hospitalisation due to acute coronary syndrome. The time that should elapse between two stages has not been established, and the concern about deterioration of renal function is a common reason for postponing the second angioplasty. The purpose of this study was to find out doctors’ opinions on the optimal management to prevent kidney injury in patients undergoing two-stage revascularisation. Materials and methods: The study was conducted in the form of an anonymous online survey. It was attended by 84 physicians from 6 centres offering invasive treatment of acute coronary syndromes. The questionnaire included 3 questions characterising respondents and 6 questions on kidney injury. Results: Physicians’ opinions varied, both on the main risk factors for acute kidney injury and on the optimal timing of the second percutaneous coronary intervention. The most frequently mentioned factors responsible for kidney injury included: baseline kidney dysfunction, hypoperfusion and heart failure. Almost half of the respondents believed that more than 48 hours should elapse between the two stages of revascularisation. Conclusions: Our study indicates the lack of standards for the management in patients with acute coronary syndrome qualified for staged revascularisation. Further studies are needed to determine the optimal timing of the second stage of angioplasty.

Gaps in Patient-Centered Decision-Making Related to Complex Surgery: A Mixed-Methods Study

IntroductionWe sought to understand the perceptions of surgeons around patient preferred roles in decision-making and their approaches to patient-centered decision-making (PCDM). MethodsA concurrent embedded mixed-methods design was utilized among a cohort of surgeons performing complex surgical procedures. Data were collected through online surveys. Associations between perceptions and PCDM approaches were examined. ResultsAmong 241 participants, most respondents were male (67.2%) with an average age of 47.6 y (standard deviation = 10.3); roughly half (52.4%) had practiced medicine for 10 or more years. Surgeons most frequently agreed (94.2%) with the statement, “Patients prefer to make health decisions on their own after seriously considering their physician's opinion.” Conversely, surgeons most frequently disagreed (73.0%) with the statement, “Patients prefer that their physician make health decisions for them.” Nearly one-third (30.4%) of surgeon qualitative responses (n = 115) indicated that clinical/biological information would help them tailor their approach to PCDM. Only 12.2% of respondents indicated that they assess patient preferences regarding both decision-making and information needs. ConclusionsSurgeons most frequently agree that patients want to make their own health decisions after seriously considering their physicians opinion. A greater focus on what information surgeons should know before treatment decision-making may help optimize patient experience and outcomes related to complex surgical procedures.

Evaluación de la interconsulta virtual por los profesionales de atención primaria: dimensiones de la calidad y oportunidades de mejora

ObjectiveTo know the opinion of Aragon primary care physicians about virtual consultation and its impact on the different healthcare quality domains. DesignCross-sectional study through a self-developed survey. Data collection was enabled from April 14th to May 31st, 2023. SitePhysicians with healthcare duties in primary care in Aragon. ParticipantsSpecialist physicians and resident interns in Family and Community Medicine. MeansurementsJob characteristics, Likert variables assessing virtual consultation as a tool and its impact on healthcare quality domains, identification of advantages and disadvantages, and free answer questions proposing improvement strategies. Results202 responses. 90.1% of participants consider virtual consultation useful, while 67.8% believe that it improves the quality of referrals. The main advantages identified are its contribution to professional enrichment and the integral visión of the patient, and the improvement of communication between the primary and secondary levels of care; the main drawback is the role of Primary Care as an intermediary in patient information. Efficiency and equity were the most highly rated quality domains, with safety being the least valued. ConclusionsVirtual consultation can promote communication and coordination of care, and enhance the primary care resolution capacity. Its success relies on training and time for its use, as well as on reaching a consensus on protocols and to homogenize resource distribution. Nevertheless, there are still opportunities for improvement, mainly in the realm of safety.

A qualitative interview study among clinicians managing trauma patients: identifying barriers and potential solutions to improving a trauma registry in a lower-to-middle-income country

Abstract Background The ability to adapt clinical management of trauma in many lower- and middle- income countries (LMICs) has been historically constrained by nonexistent or inadequate data registries. These registries suffer from a variety of issues including administrative, logistical, educational, feasibility, and financial barriers. Objective The present study aimed to survey physicians at a representative hospital with documented trauma record deficiencies regarding their experiences with the current registry system, barriers that affect the current system, and recommendations for improvement. Methods This study was a qualitative analysis of the experiences and opinions of trauma physicians in the Emergency Department of Beni-Suef University Hospital. Eight participants underwent a semi-structured interview covering the aforementioned topics. The interviews were then coded to identify prominent themes, from which quotes that epitomized these themes were selected. Results The participants identified issues with the current data registry system that corroborates prior quantitative data at the location, particularly stressing the lack of critical information affecting patient care and safety including mechanisms of injury, patient identification information, and time courses. Clinical duties and staffing were identified as primary barriers as the large patient volume seen in under-resourced hospitals precludes the ability of the physician to adequately complete documentation. Simplicity and practical workflow modification in conjunction with increased data utilization in the form of research output were stressed as desirable features that could facilitate the improvement of the current system. Conclusion Data registries enable hospitals and public health systems to engage in primary and secondary interventions, thereby reducing clinical volume loads and increasing clinical efficacy. After engaging in constructive discussion with physicians on the trauma care team at Beni-Suef University Hospital, the goal of workflow modification within existing resources was established as the primary guiding principle for subsequent interventional stages in improving the current trauma registry.

Evaluating video-based consultations in routine clinical practice at a comprehensive cancer center

Introduction Integrating telemedicine into cancer care remains a major challenge. There are little clinical evidence for teleconsultation efficacy and safety in daily oncology practice. This study as a pioneering experience, aimed to analyze patient and physician opinions regarding the implementation of telemedicine consultations, and to identify major limitations of telehealth spread in an oncology institute. Material and methods During COVID-19 lockdown, patients and physicians who took part to at least one video-based teleconsultation between March and May 2020, were enrolled in this observational study. All eligible patients received an anonymous online questionnaire. On the other hand, all physicians eligible to participate were asked through email to complete a questionnaire. Results In this study, 31 physicians and 304 patients consented to participate in this study by answering the questionnaire and were included. Regarding telemedicine satisfaction, 65.8% of patients were satisfied. The lack of clinical examination was the major limitation reported by 77% of patients. Patients belonging to a high socio-professional category were statistically more dissatisfied with the relationship with their doctor (OR = 2.31 and 95% CI [1.12; 4.74]). Conclusion This study showed promising results of incorporating video-based teleconsultations into cancer patient management. Randomized clinical trials are needed in order to accelerate the digital implementation in clinical practice.

Aile hekimlerinin pandemi döneminde muayene fobisi ve online görüntülü muayene hakkındaki görüşleri

Introduction: During Covid-19 pandemic, many hospitals closed their outpatient clinics because of the high number of inpatients and individuals turned to their family physicians for medical care. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the opinions of family physicians regarding examination phobia and telemedicine video examinations during the pandemic. Methods: This was a single-centered, cross-sectional study. The participating physicians completed a questionnaire with 28 questions including their sociodemographic data, whether they performed examination during the pandemic, telemedicine knowledge and opinions on telemedicine. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 20 software package and statistical significance was set at p&amp;lt;0.05. Results: 364 family physicians participated in our study and 163 of them (44.8%) reported hesitation while examining patients, with the majority (53.8%; n=196) expressing anxiety about oropharyngeal examinations. 211 of them (58%) reported having knowledge of telemedicine. The majority of family physicians thought that follow-ups and prescriptions for chronic diseases, repeat prescriptions, and post-treatment control examinations could be performed online whereas pregnant, postpartum, infant, and child follow-ups could not. While 40% (n=146) didn’t want to provide services via video/telephone examination, 32.7% (n=119) wanted to and 27.2% (n=99) undecided. 86.8% (n=316) of them believed that telemedicine video/telephone examination could result in legal problems. Participants estimated that less than 25% of their daily patients were suitable for telemedicine, and that less than 25% had access to the necessary technology. However, 55.8% (n=203) of family physicians believed that patients would be interested in telemedicine, and 59.6% (n=216) thought that providing such services would increase their workload. Being undecided about providing services through telemedicine was more common among women (p=0.029), while unwillingness to provide online services increased with age and years of occupation (p=0.024, p=0.004, respectively). Conclusion: Telemedicine, which has come to the forefront with the development of technology today, was seen as an opportunity to reduce contact with patients during the pandemic. However, our study found that family physicians believed that telemedicine services would increase their workload and that a large portion of society was not ready for this system. Keywords: Telemedicine, telehealth, covid 19, family physician.