Injuries are predictable and preventable. Prevention may be applied at bedside or in the community. Greater emphasis on injury control would radically alter the health care provider's role, and shift the direction of communication from the physician to the community and to the individual patient. Success with prevention strategies requires new…

A survey of 250 accredited internal medicine training sites in the United States revealed that only 6% offered formal training in telephone medicine to their residents, usually consisting of single lectures or reading materials. A majority of respondents felt telephone management training was very important and should be part of every internal…

Describes an undergraduate introductory theology course featuring exercises based on techniques used in clinical pastoral education, including a case study of a depressed man addressing issues of faith. The process integrates experience-based, dialogic, personal, and holistic learning. Pedagogic and practical issues associated with this approach…

A survey of 57 dental school deans concerning current and ideal curricular emphases in 33 topic areas identified three that were rated highly as ideals: health promotion/disease prevention; primary care; and effective patient-provider relationships/communication. The most significant barrier to reform was an already crowded curriculum. Deans…

Introduction: As they care for patients, physicians raise questions, but they pursue only a portion of them. Without the best information and evidence, care and patient safety may be compromised. Understanding when and why problems prompt physicians to look for information and integrate results into their knowledge base is critical and shapes one…

Introduction: The presence of commercial messages in continuing medical education (CME) is an ongoing cause of concern. This study identifies actions perceived by CME participants to convey commercial bias from CME faculty. Methods: A questionnaire listing actions associated with CME activities was distributed to 230 randomly selected participants…

Videoconferencing (VC) technology has been used successfully to provide psychiatric services to patients in rural and otherwise underserved settings. VC-based diagnostic interviewing has shown good agreement with conventional face-to-face diagnosis of dementia in several investigations, but extension of this technology to neurocognitive assessment…

National guidelines define asthma control as the prevention of asthma symptoms rather than the treatment of asthma exacerbations. We hypothesized that we would find a discrepancy between what parents consider adequate control compared to what health care professionals mean by "control." Data from a telephone survey conducted for the…

This study was designed to develop models for vulnerability to suicidal ideation in bipolar patients. Logistic regression models examined correlates of suicidal ideation in patients who had versus had not attempted suicide previously. Of 477 patients assessed, complete data on demographic, illness history, and personality variables were available…

Patients' accounts complement psychiatric assessment of deliberate self-harm (DSH). In this study we examined psychiatric disorders, and sociocultural and cross-cultural features of DSH. SCID diagnostic interviews and a locally adapted EMIC interview were used to study 196 patients after DSH at a general hospital in Mumbai, India. Major depression…

Background: There is growing literature suggesting that some children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can show a significant bias in attention away from left space. Here we examine mechanisms that may underpin these effects in both clinical and non-clinical child populations. Unilateral spatial inattention…

The clinical and psychosocial characteristics of 239 dieting and nondieting adolescents (61% female; mean age=15.3) recruited from an inpatient psychiatric setting were examined. Dieting adolescents were compared to nondieting adolescents on exercise frequency, weight control behaviors, risky behaviors, psychiatric comorbidity and distress, eating…

Although dental caries in the pediatric and adolescent population has consistently declined in the United States, it is still the most common childhood disease. Dental problems are the number one reason for missing school next to the common cold. Dental caries are an infectious, communicable disease resulting in destruction of tooth structure by…

Objective: Studies spanning nearly 4 decades demonstrate that doctors ignore or dismiss many patient bids for discussion of psychosocial topics. We sought to understand characteristics of doctors, patients, and visits in which this occurs. Methods: Reanalysis of 167 audiotapes from 2 studies of parent-doctor communication in a pediatric residents'…

An aspect of the information literacy of health information consumers is explored, in particular whether and how they evaluate the quality of health information on the Internet and in printed formats. A total of 32 members of patient support groups in North-East Scotland were recruited to take part in information review groups (a variation of…