Family medicine
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Substantial evidence supports the concept that residency training is physically and emotionally stressful. However, few studies have examined resident health. This study measured the physical and psychological health of family practice residents and compared these results with population norms. ⋯ This study provides evidence that despite the rigors of residency training, family practice residents in South Carolina have average physical health and better-than-average psychological health, according to age-adjusted population norms. These results suggest that the coping skills of family practice residents are well suited to the stresses of family practice residency training.
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Israeli family medicine provides an example of the accelerated development of a new discipline. This development occurred in a highly dynamic and rapidly growing society against a background of conflicting cultural traditions within the health care field. ⋯ Also, two major challenges for the future are examined: 1) the integration of preventive care into family practice, and 2) the exposure of primary care to competition from hospital-based specialists in an atmosphere of increasing commercialism. The Israeli experience forms a basis for comparison for family medicine in other countries.
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In recent years, promoting the use of evidence-based decision making in health care has been gaining popularity. This method of decision making requires that the results of primary research be compiled in a systematic manner and made accessible to those involved in the decision-making process. ⋯ The Cochrane Collaboration in Primary Health Care was established as part of an international effort to facilitate the preparation, maintenance, and dissemination of systematic reviews of the effects of health care provided in, or relevant to family practice. This paper describes the progress made in establishing the Cochrane Collaboration as an international register of randomized controlled trials in family medicine that will subsequently be used for undertaking systematic reviews in the discipline.
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Today's family medicine educator occupies a position of increasing stature in medical education. The recognition of education as scholarship creates a framework for the evaluation of clinician-educators for promotion. A system is needed to document educational excellence, peer review, and public dissemination. ⋯ As a method for evaluating scholarship in education, the Educator's Portfolio is an important addition to a candidate's promotion packet.