Articles: emergency-medicine.
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To determine the extent and diversity of involvement of pharmaceutical representatives in emergency medicine residency programs and to assess chief residents' beliefs and attitudes concerning this activity. ⋯ The interaction of pharmaceutical representatives with emergency medicine residents and residencies is widespread. More than 50% of the institutions supporting emergency medicine residency programs have no formal guidelines with regard to the interaction of their residents with pharmaceutical representatives or their guidelines are not known to the person most responsible for approval and arrangement of the pharmaceutical representative interaction--the emergency medicine chief resident. While most chief residents believed that accepting small gifts was reasonable, they also believed that accepting gifts valued at $100 or more and pharmaceutical representative sponsorship of trips was inappropriate.
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Emergency medicine has not yet appropriated "humanism" as a term of its own. Medical humanism needs to be interpreted in a way that is consistent with the practical goals of emergency medicine. In this essay, humanism in emergency medicine is defined by identifying the dehumanizing aspects of sudden illness and exploring of ways for sustaining the humanity of emergency department patients. Excerpts from Dr Oliver Sacks' autobiographical work A Leg to Stand On give voice to the human needs created by sudden illness and its treatment.
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This article presents guidelines for interactions with consultant physicians by emergency physicians. The political aspects of dealing with consultant physicians often are not stressed in emergency medicine training programs and little has been written in the emergency medicine literature on this topic. Practicing maintenance of good relations with consultant physicians can make work in the emergency department more enjoyable for all concerned, and probably contributes to better overall patient care.