Family medicine
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Health literacy is a key factor in communication between patients and health care professionals of all kinds. Improving the training of health professionals about patients' health literacy is a national priority that remains understudied. We sought to examine the effects of a health literacy training on physicians and nonphysician health professionals. ⋯ Health literacy training for health professionals can improve self-perceived knowledge, skills, and intended behaviors, but results may vary between physicians and nonphysician health professionals and by years of experience. More research is needed to identify ideal instructional strategies for teaching health professionals about health literacy.
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Balint groups have been part of residency education for decades. This study updates our understanding of the organization, purpose, and leadership of Balint groups within US family medicine residency programs. ⋯ Balint groups are still commonly occurring, but their implementation is changing. Groups are meeting less frequently and are more likely to be larger and heterogeneous. This trend and lack of formally trained/certified leaders may be decreasing the benefit to residents involved in Balint groups.
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Sexual health is an important aspect of overall health. Barriers to taking an adequate patient sexual history exist. Few studies have explored medical learners' comfort, knowledge, and training surrounding taking sexual histories with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning/queer (LGBTQ) patients specifically. ⋯ Medical students and resident/fellows reported a significantly lower level of comfort with sexual history-taking and management of sexual issues in the LGBTQ population. A comprehensive training format that not only views sexual health as an integral part of overall patient health, but also integrates LGBTQ care, is needed in medical education.
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Fewer medical students are choosing to work in primary care, and it is difficult to recruit and retain physicians to work in underserved communities. Positive exposures with underserved communities are known to increase a physician's likelihood of practicing in an underserved area. While a number of medical school programs are designed to address the rural physician workforce shortage, there are fewer medical school programs designed to specifically recruit and retain physicians to work in urban underserved areas. This article describes a multifaceted, longitudinal medical school curriculum at Jefferson Medical College known as the Urban Underserved Program (UUP) and a survey administered to UUP graduates exploring the association between program participation and practice outcomes. ⋯ Urban underserved communities have greater health disparities and less access to health care, and programs that promote and prepare students to enter practice in these communities can potentially impact the health of these populations.
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The United States is in an unprecedented era of health care reform that is pushing medical professionals and medical educators to evaluate the future of their patients, careers, and the field of medicine. Our objectives were to describe physician familiarity and knowledge with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) and to determine if knowledge is associated with support and endorsement of the ACA. ⋯ Endorsement of the ACA varied by specialty, knowledge, and satisfaction with the practice of medicine.