August 30th, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in News, Research
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Although nearly 70% of medical specialties saw increases in compensation in 2010, increases were marginal, reports the American Medical Group Association’s 2011 Medical Group Compensation and Financial Survey.
Primary care specialties saw about a 2.6% increase in 2010, while other medical specialties averaged an increase of 2.4% and surgical specialties averaged around 3.8%. Specialties with the largest increases in compensation were allergy (6.38%), emergency medicine (6.37%), and hospitalist-internal medicine (6.29%).
In comparison, in 2009, primary care and surgical specialties saw about a Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Hospitalist*
August 28th, 2011 by Michael Kirsch, M.D. in Opinion, Research
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Medical malpractice reform is in the news again. Of course, for the medical profession, the medical malpractice system is the wound that simply will not heal. For the plaintiffs bar, in contrast, the medical liability system is the gift that keeps on giving. I have argued that the current system fails on four important fronts.
- Efficiency
- Cost
- Fairness
- Quality Improvement
I admit readily that my profession has not been as diligent as it should be in holding ourselves accountable. We have not been forthright in admitting our medical errors, although can you blame us under the current medical liability construct? Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at MD Whistleblower*
August 25th, 2011 by RamonaBatesMD in Research
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I was alerted to this Archives of Surgery article (full reference below) by MedPage Today: Role Playing Boosts Surgical Residents’ Bedside Manner.
I find it intriguing. Role playing gives you a chance for a “do-over” when you make a social or communication faux pas.
So much of medicine is communication. Those of us who have been at it for years, deliver bad news differently (learned the hard way) now than we did previously. You choose your words more carefully (though I still occasionally screw up). Some words are more emotionally charged than others. Some patients want more information than others.
The University of Connecticut Health Center conducted a prospective study of a pilot project designed to teach surgical residents patient-centered communication skills.
The study offered Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
July 29th, 2011 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network
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It seems to me this topic of surgeons and their lack of civility gets pulled out on a fairly regular basis. This latest discussion in the news media is due to a short article in the current Archives of Surgery (full reference below).
Surgeons as a group have a reputation (which even nice ones have trouble overcoming) of arrogance and incivility.
The authors, Klein and Forni, of this article state (bold emphasis is mine):
Uncivil behavior is so present in society at large that we should not be surprised to find it among health care workers. This article is meant to raise the awareness of the costs—both in dollars and in human misery—of incivility in the practice of medicine by looking in particular at the case of surgeons.
Uncivil behavior brings misery wherever it occurs. If the individual tends to behave in an uncivil fashion prior to medical school and prior to residency, Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
March 2nd, 2011 by Bongi in Book Reviews, Opinion
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This post is a bit of a diversion from my usual posts, but I think it may still be worthwhile. You see, I want to promote a book.
I’ve just read the book, “Steeped in Blood: The Life and Times of a Forensic Scientist” by David Klatzow. What a stunning book. It really gives insight into the South Africa of old and possibly what South Africa of future may end up being like. I suggest that everyone get ahold of it and read it.
However, David, I do feel I must challenge you on one point. Towards the end of your book, you say one of your surgeon friends told you a story of one of our Cuban import surgeons who tried to do a tonsillectomy through the neck rather than through the mouth, the normal way of doing it. I know this story and have heard it often myself in the corridors in Pretoria. Unfortunately it’s urban legend and nothing more.
I have worked with the Cubans, and they aren’t too shabby. Don’t get me wrong — they aren’t a scratch on a South African specialist (although the standards are dropping as you rightly point out, and quite soon they may be far better than homegrown specialists), but the point is that they wouldn’t do something so bizarrely stupid. I even suspect I know who your surgeon friend might be, especially if he presently finds himself in Pretoria rather than Johannesburg, where you no doubt got to know him.
Anyway, still an absolutely brilliant read for anyone who wants to get a peek into the workings of the apartheid government of old. Go and buy it now.
*This blog post was originally published at other things amanzi*
