Journal of the American College of Surgeons
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Although physician health promotes retention to the profession and encourages higher-quality patient care, residents can face challenges seeking routine medical care. Erratic working hours, time constraints, easy access to informal health consultation, and a culture of self-reliance can deter help-seeking behavior. Despite national focus on physician burnout and efforts to promote wellness, little is known about the self-care habits of residents. The goal of this study was to evaluate the routine healthcare practices of resident physicians. ⋯ Despite a high prevalence of self-reported depression and prescription medication use, a significant proportion of surveyed resident physicians in New England do not seek mental health resources and lack consistent, routine healthcare. Resident health is vital to the mission of physician well-being and mitigating the escalating problem of burnout. Barriers to self-care and help-seeking behavior should be evaluated to promote sustainable behavior that will encourage a long professional career.
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Online portals have been shown to be a valuable tool for patients to improve compliance with medical treatment in numerous studies across medical specialties. Our aim was to study the effects of the use of web-based applications that allow patients to track their appointments, labs, and provider visit notes on achievement of renal transplantation. ⋯ Online portal use is associated with a higher likelihood of being approved as a transplantation candidate and increased number of logins is associated with shortened time to renal transplantation.
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This article proposes systems for the fair distribution of scarce resources to healthcare providers. It builds on classic ethical structures and adapts them to the equitable distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) to clinicians at risk of contracting novel corona virus-19 (COVID-19). ⋯ It is recognized that unless the supply of PPE is quickly replenished, or viable alternatives to traditional equipment are devised in the coming days to weeks, hospitals and healthcare systems will face the difficult task of rationing PPE to at-risk clinicians. This paper suggests an ethical framework for that process.