The Journal of family practice
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There is little information describing family physician researchers who work outside academic medical centers. This report describes the motivating factors and resources used by community residency faculty and nonfaculty family physicians who perform research. ⋯ For community-based family physicians, success at conducting and publishing research is enhanced by the availability of mentoring, support from local or national foundations, and previous research experience. Respondents identified research training during residency as one area that needs improvement.
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Patients often seek care from hospital emergency departments (EDs) for conditions medical personnel perceive as nonurgent. The purpose of this study was to examine ED patients' perceptions of urgency, and to determine whether patients with no regular source of medical care are more likely to use the ED for problems they perceive as nonurgent. ⋯ A large majority of ED patients perceive the problems for which they seek care from an ED as urgent, even when they are assessed as nonurgent by a health professional. Lack of a regular source of care has no significant impact on ED utilization for problems that patients perceive as nonurgent. Simply providing patients with a regular source of care is unlikely to have a significant impact on nonurgent ED utilization without efforts to manage utilization and ensure adequate access to primary care.
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Spontaneous rupture of membranes during the second trimester presents difficult medical and ethical questions for the patient and physician. Such pregnancies are at high risk for preterm birth, chorioamnionitis, and neonatal complications. Treatment can range from expectant management to pregnancy termination. This case presentation describes a patient with premature rupture of membranes at 21 weeks' gestation who gave birth at 35 weeks.