Journal of general internal medicine
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To explore colorectal cancer (CRC) screening knowledge, attitudes, barriers, and preferences among urban African Americans as a prelude to the development of culturally appropriate interventions to improve screening for this group. ⋯ Low-income African Americans are optimistic and hopeful about early CRC detection and believe that thorough and accurate CRC screening is valuable. Lack of CRC knowledge and fear are major barriers to screening for this population along with mistrust, and fatalism.
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Critical incident reports are now being widely used in medical education. They are short narrative accounts focusing on the most important professional experiences of medical students, residents, and other learners. ⋯ This manuscript describes critical incident reports and gives examples of their use, provides a theoretical underpinning that explains their effectiveness, and describes the educational impacts of critical incident reports and similar methods that use reflective learning. The author recommends critical incident reports as an especially effective means to address learners' most deeply held values and attitudes in the context of their professional experiences.
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Comparative Study Controlled Clinical Trial
Improvements in antimicrobial prescribing for treatment of upper respiratory tract infections through provider education.
Inappropriate use of antimicrobials to treat acute upper respiratory tract infections (URIs), which usually have a viral etiology, contributes to emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance in Streptococcus pneumoniae and other human bacterial pathogens. ⋯ An interactive, case-based educational program for physicians and their staff proved effective for reducing unwarranted prescribing of antibiotics in the treatment of URIs by primary care physicians in a Medicaid HMO setting.
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To develop and evaluate a web-based curriculum to introduce first year medical students to the knowledge and attitudes necessary for working with limited English proficient (LEP) patients through interpreters. ⋯ Our web-curriculum resulted in short-term improvement in the knowledge and attitudes necessary to interact with LEP patients and interpreters. The interactive format allowed students to receive immediate formative feedback and be cognizant of the challenges and effective strategies in language discordant medical encounters. This is important because studies suggest that the use of these skills in patient encounters leads to greater patient and provider satisfaction and improved health outcomes.
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Identify the incidence and prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) in women over 55 years of age in primary care offices. ⋯ Physical and sexual abuse by an intimate partner does occur in women over 55 years, but rates are lower than those of younger women. Health care providers are reminded to think about IPV in older women and to ask about abuse as disclosure is rare.