[Professional activity of fellows in French pediatric intensive care units. North American fellowship programs: a comparative study]. / Organisation et charge de travail des chefs de clinique-assistants des unités de réanimation pédiatrique françaises. Comparaison avec l'expérience des "fellowships" nord-américains.

OBJECTIVES: The study of fellows professional activity in French pediatric intensive care units monitors: their workload, their distribution between bedside care and academic activities, their scientific papers production and at knowing perceptual impact their workload had on their professional and personal lives. METHODS: The 2000 survey according to all 31 fellows of these units obtained a response rate of 94%. RESULTS: Fellows of these units reported spending an average of 76 hours in the hospital per week. The bedside care took up 80% of their total professional activity. Impact of the workload was perceived as negative on themselves, on patient, their parents, on the care team. Fellows suggested a larger time needed to be dedicated to research, the support of a research mentor and the increase of medical staff, to favor their academic activity and improve unit functioning. CONCLUSION: The workload reported seemed to affect the patient bedside care and diminished the implication of the fellows of French pediatric intensive care unit for the research activity. An increase of medical staff, a protected time for research would contribute to balancing professional activity of these medical doctors and would maintain the objective of training good clinicians.

Lifestyle health risk assessment. Do recently trained family physicians do it better?

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether recently trained family physicians were more likely to routinely assess lifestyle health risks during general medical evaluations. To document physicians' perceptions of the difficulties of lifestyle risk assessment, of medical training in that area, and of how often they saw patients with lifestyle health risks. DESIGN: Anonymous mailed survey conducted in 1995. SETTING: Family practices in the province of Quebec. PARTICIPANTS: Stratified random sample of 805 active family physicians of 1111 surveyed; 25 were ineligible or could not be located, and 281 did not respond (74.1% response rate). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Proportion of physicians graduating before and after 1989 who reported routinely (with 90% or more of their patients) assessing their adult and adolescent patients during general medical evaluations for substance use, sexual risk behaviours, and history of family violence and sexual abuse. RESULTS: Except for asking about drug use, recently trained family physicians did not report better assessment of lifestyle health risks during general medical examinations than family physicians who graduated more than 10 years ago did. In both groups, routine assessment averaged 82% for tobacco use, 68% for alcohol consumption, and 20% to 40% for sexual risk behaviours. Screening for family violence and sexual abuse was rare, but more frequently reported by older women physicians. Only 20% to 40% of recent graduates rated their medical training adequate for evaluating illicit drug use, family violence, and sexual abuse. CONCLUSION: Recently trained family physicians do not assess most lifestyle risk factors any better than their more experienced colleagues.

Medical faculty as humanistic physicians and teachers: the perceptions of students at innovative and traditional medical schools.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The training of caring physicians represents an important goal of medical education. Little is known however, on whether medical faculty constitute good role models for teaching humanistic skills to medical students. In this study, we examined to what extent medical students at innovative and traditional schools perceived their teachers as humanistic physicians and teachers. We also explored whether pre-clinical and clinical students shared the same perceptions. METHODS: A mail survey was conducted in Canada of all second-year students and senior clerks at one innovative medical school (problem-based learning (PBL), patient-centred, community-oriented) and three traditional medical schools. Students were asked to what extent they agreed or disagreed that the majority of their teachers behaved as humanistic physicians and teachers; 10 statements were used. Overall, 65% of the 1039 students returned the questionnaire. RESULTS: Over 25% of second-year students and 40% of senior clerks did not agree that their teachers behaved as humanistic caregivers with patients or were good role models in teaching the doctor-patient relationship. More than half of second-year students and senior clerks did not agree that their teachers valued human contact with them or were supportive of students who had difficulties. There were few differences in the way medical students at innovative and traditional schools perceived their teachers' humanistic qualities. At the pre-clinical level however, there were more students from the innovative school than from the traditional schools (around 60% vs. 40%, P < 0.005) who agreed that their teachers valued human contact with them and were supportive of students. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the PBL curriculum fosters better teacher-student relationships during the pre-clinical years. They also suggest that an unacceptably large number of medical students are taught by physicians who seem to lack compassion and caring in their interactions with patients. This study questions the adequacy of medical faculty as role models for the acquisition of caring competence by medical students.

What accounts for physician opinions about midwifery in Canada?

The objective of this study was to identify the characteristics of physicians practicing obstetrics in the province of Quebec, Canada and relate these to their opinions about midwifery practice. A self-administered questionnaire was sent to a systematic random sample of 844 physicians; 597 physicians answered (response rate = 71%). Results show that physicians who were more open to midwives had a more client-centered approach to maternity care. They had attended premed school outside Canada but received their specialty training in Canada. They also had often collaborated with midwives since they had begun practicing. Physicians who were more open to midwives were less demanding in terms of level of midwife training. They agreed that midwives should be self-regulating. It is concluded that greater knowledge of midwives' practice, gained through collaboration in the workplace and interdisciplinary education, could help physicians to better understand the significant contributions that midwives can make to the health care system.

Do people with HIV/AIDS disclose their HIV-positivity to dentists?

This study documents behaviours of people with HIV/AIDS regarding the disclosure of their HIV-positivity when seeking dental care. An anonymous survey was conducted in Québec, Canada, from 1993 to 1995, using a sample of 463 people with HIV/AIDS recruited from different sources. Over 80% of respondents reported having sought dental care since becoming aware of their positivity. Of these, 54% reported having always disclosed their HIV-positivity to dentists, while 25% reported never having disclosed this information to dentists. However, 83% of all respondents preferred that the dentist be aware of their HIV status. Respondents gave reasons related to the sociopathological impact of HIV infection to explain their behaviours. The predictors of disclosure of HIV-positivity to the dentist were: gender, main source of payment for dental care, prior disclosure of HIV status to family members, prior disclosure of HIV status to co-workers, and trust in the maintenance of confidentiality by the dentist. These results emphasize the need to use universal precautions in the dental office and to promote dentist-patient relations free of discrimination, so that people with HIV/AIDS are not reluctant to disclose their health status and are confident that such disclosure will lead to care best adapted to their condition.

Do physicians assess lifestyle health risks during general medical examinations? A survey of general practitioners and obstetrician-gynecologists in Quebec.

BACKGROUND: In Canada several guidelines have been published for the screening of lifestyle health risks during general medical examinations. The authors sought to examine the extent to which such screening practices have been integrated into medical practice, to measure physicians' perceived level of difficulty in assessing these risks and to document physicians' evaluation of their formal medical training in lifestyle risk assessment. METHODS: An anonymous mail survey was conducted in 1995 in Quebec with a stratified random sample of 1086 general practitioners (GPs) and with all 241 obstetrician-gynecologists (Ob-Gyns). The authors evaluated the proportion of physicians who reported routine assessment (with 90% or more of their patients) of substance use, family violence and sexual history during general medical examinations of adult and adolescent patients; the proportion of those who find inquiring about these issues difficult; and the proportion of those who evaluated their medical training in lifestyle risk assessment as adequate or excellent. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 72.6%. Among adult patients, 82.2% of the GPs reported routinely assessing tobacco use, 67.2% alcohol consumption, 34.2% illicit drug use and 3.2% family violence; the corresponding proportions for assessment among adolescent patients were 77.1%, 61.8%, 52.9% and 5.6%. Comparatively fewer Ob-Gyns reported routinely assessing these issues (56.1%, 28.6%, 20.4% and 1.3% respectively among adults and 62.7%, 35.2%, 26.8% and 2.8% respectively among adolescents). In the area of sexual history, condom use was routinely assessed by more Ob-Gyns than GPs (47.0% v. 28.2%); however, the proportion of Ob-Gyns and GPs was equally low for assessing number of partners (24.8% and 23.1%), sexual orientation (18.8% and 16.9%) and STD risk (26.2% and 21.2%). The vast majority of GPs and Ob-Gyns reported finding it difficult to assess family violence (86.5% and 93.0%) and sexual abuse (92.7% and 92.4% respectively). Over 80% of the physicians felt that they had had adequate or excellent medical training in assessing risk behaviours for heart disease and STD risk. The proportion who felt this way about their training in screening for illicit drug use, family violence and sexual abuse ranged between 12.7% and 31.6%. INTERPRETATION: Although morbidity and mortality associated with smoking, alcohol consumption, illicit drug use, unsafe sexual practices, family violence and sexual abuse have been well documented, routine screening for these risk factors during general medical examinations has yet to be integrated into medical practice.

Sexual health risk assessment and counseling in primary care: how involved are general practitioners and obstetrician-gynecologists?

OBJECTIVES: This study examined physicians' evaluation of sexual health risks during a general medical examination and sexually transmitted disease (STD) counseling during consultations for adolescent contraception and treatment of an STD. METHODS: An anonymous mail survey was conducted in 1995 with a stratified random sample of 1086 general practitioners and all 241 obstetrician-gynecologists practicing in Quebec, Canada. RESULTS: Fewer than half of the respondents reported routinely inquiring about condom use and number of sexual partners during a general medical examination. Female general practitioners engaged in more sexual health risk assessment and counseling than male general practitioners. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests a low level of involvement in STD prevention by generalists and obstetrician-gynecologists.

Clinical teachers as humanistic caregivers and educators: perceptions of senior clerks and second-year residents.

BACKGROUND: The acquisition and nurturing of humanistic skills and attitudes constitute an important aim of medical education. In order to assess how conducive the physician-learning environment is to the acquisition of these skills, the authors determined the extent to which clinical teachers are perceived by their trainees as humanistic with patients and students, and they explored whether undergraduate and graduate students share the same perceptions. METHODS: A mail survey was conducted in 1994/95 of all senior clerks and second-year residents at Laval University, University of Montreal and University of Sherbrooke medical schools. Of 774 trainees, 259 senior clerks and 238 second-year residents returned the questionnaire, for an overall response rate of 64%. Students' perceptions of their teachers were measured on a 6-point Likert scale applied to statements about teachers' attitudes toward the patient (5 items) and toward the student (5 items). RESULTS: On average, only 46% of the senior clerks agreed that their teachers displayed the humanistic characteristics of interest. They were especially critical of their teachers' apparent lack of sensitivity, with as many as 3 out of 4 declaring that their teachers seemed to be unconcerned about how patients adapt psychologically to their illnesses (75% of clerks) and that their teachers did not try to understand students' difficulties (78%) or to support students who have difficulties (77%). Compared with the clerks, the second-year residents were significantly less critical, those with negative perceptions varying from 27% to 58%, 40% on average. Except for this difference, their pattern of responses from one item to another was similar. INTERPRETATION: This study suggests the existence of a substantial gap between what medical trainees are expected to learn and what they actually experience over the course of their training. Because such a gap could represent a significant barrier to the acquisition of important skills, more and urgent research is needed to understand better the factors influencing students' perceptions.

Do women physicians do more STD prevention than men? Quebec study of recently trained family physicians.

OBJECTIVES: To examine differences attributable to sex of family physicians in their practices and in their perceptions of sexual history taking and safer sex counseling, and to ascertain whether sex of physicians influences counseling about condoms. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Quebec family practices. PARTICIPANTS: Recently graduated (1991) Quebec family physicians: 54 men and 92 women. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Frequency and content of sexual history, frequency of safer sex counseling, perceived level of comfort in taking a sexual history, perceived adequacy of medical training to take sexual histories, perceived difficulty with sexual history taking according to patients' characteristics, and perceived effectiveness of safer sex counseling. RESULTS: Response rate was 80% of 183 physicians contacted. There were few differences attributable to sex of physician in family physicians' practices and perceptions regarding sexual history taking. Men's perceptions regarding the difficulty of sexual history taking did not vary according to patient's sex, but most women reported more difficulty with male patients. Male physicians reported more difficulty with teenagers; female physicians experienced more difficulty questioning adults. More than 85% of male and female physicians reported recommending condom use to a patient in their practice at least weekly. Women physicians seemed to do more condom-related counseling than their male colleagues, even after controlling for other variables. Salaried practice in a local community health centre did not influence condom-related counseling. CONCLUSIONS: Women family physicians are more inclined than men to counsel patients about condom use. Increasing numbers of women in family practice could have a beneficial effect on prevention of STDs and undesired pregnancies.

[Role models of residents graduating in family medicine and in different specialties in Quebec]. / Les modèles de rôle des finissants en médecine familiale et dans différentes spécialités au Québec.

OBJECTIVE: To describe and compare the role models of Quebec residents graduating from French-language faculties of family medicine and from medical specialities. DESIGN: Survey by mail. PARTICIPANTS: Quebec residents graduating in family medicine (189), medical specialities (147), and surgical specialities (64) in 1990. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of models chosen, social, demographic, professional, and personal characteristics of primary role models, role models' influence on students. RESULTS: Role models chosen by family medicine graduates more closely resemble those of their medical speciality colleagues than those of their surgical speciality colleagues. Family medicine graduates, particularly female graduates, have more difficulty choosing models. Their choices are based mainly on qualities that reflect a biopsychosocial approach to care and concern with the community aspects of medical practice. CONCLUSION: Choosing role models is a complex process. Medical faculty in residency programs play an important role in the professional identity of future physicians.

A survey of midwives in Quebec: what are their similarities and differences?

BACKGROUND: Until recently, Canada was the only industrialized country that had not legalized midwifery. In the province of Quebec the government adopted a law to evaluate midwifery in eight pilot projects before generalizing the practice. This study examined the similarities and differences among midwives in Quebec. METHODS: Using data from a 1991 mail survey, we compared 31 nurse-midwives, 12 professional midwives, and 27 lay midwives to assess professional background and opinions about selected maternity care issues and aspects of future midwifery practice, such as midwife training options, responsibilities, setting for midwifery care, relationship to other maternity caregivers, autonomy, and control over their profession. RESULTS: Midwives largely shared the same philosophy of care but had different viewpoints on two main professional aspects: compared with professional midwives and nurse-midwives, lay midwives preferred to deliver antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum care at a client's home or an independent birthing center; like professional midwives, they rejected nursing as a prerequisite to midwifery training. Other interrelated personal, social, political, and legal factors were also associated with different beliefs. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the differences among the three groups, the process under way in Canada is to recognize a single profession of midwife. Creating a unified profession is a challenge that Canadian midwives with different backgrounds face in the 1990s.

STD risk assessment and risk-reduction counseling by recently trained family physicians.

PURPOSE: To survey recently trained family physicians about their practices and perceptions regarding sexual history taking, drug-use history taking, and safe-sex counseling. METHOD: The study was conducted with all 1991 graduates from the four family practice residency programs in Quebec, Canada. Data were collected in 1992 by using a mailed questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 148 (80%) of the 186 contacted physicians responded. The physicians reported taking a sexual history less frequently than a drug-use history when seeing patients for a general medical examination (42% versus 71%) or a first pregnancy visit (75% versus 91%). When taken, the sexual history was often too superficial to detect risk behaviors. Consequently, safe-sex counseling was infrequent. Over 20% of the physicians worried about patients' discomfort, were uneasy discussing sexual matters, and did not feel properly trained in sexual history taking. Graduates from the family practice residency at the school that offered training in human sexuality performed better sexual history taking than did graduates from the residencies at the other schools. CONCLUSIONS: Although infections from sexually transmitted diseases and the human immunodeficiency virus are important causes of morbidity and mortality, family physicians are still not actively involved in their prevention. The study suggests that medical education might be deficient in this area and that more training in human sexuality should be provided for family physicians.

When female medical students are the majority: do numbers really make a difference?

According to Kanter's theory of group dynamics, when women constitute half or more of the population in a given setting, their interactions with their male peers are more balanced and they are in a better position to influence their colleagues' professional attitudes and behavior. The influence is only significant, however, if other structural factors favor attitude and behavioral changes. Using data obtained from a mail survey of 1,247 students (82.4% response rate) conducted at three levels of medical training in three medical schools where female students were in the majority, we compared male and female students on their professional attitudes. At entrance to medical school, women were more interested in the humanistic, psychosocial, and multidisciplinary components of the physician's role than their male colleagues. At the intermediate level, however, women's interest in humanistic and psychosocial issues was less pronounced and at the graduate level this gender difference was no larger present. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for medical training.

Controversies in maternity care: where do physicians, nurses, and midwives stand?

Through a mail survey in 1991, we compared the opinions of 597 physicians practicing obstetrics, 723 maternity care nurses, and 70 midwives from the province of Quebec, Canada, about selected maternity care issues, including the practice of midwifery. Results showed that divergent points of view existed between and within the three groups on many maternity care issues. Physicians were more divided over the routine use of obstetric intervention than the approach to care or their opinion about midwives. Midwives held more client-centered and less interventionist attitudes than nurses or physicians. Nurses were much more open to midwives than physicians, but 20 to 30 percent of physicians saw some advantages in legalizing the practice of midwifery. Physicians and nurses generally considered midwives as a greater professional threat to the other group than to themselves. The fact that many physicians were critical of current maternity care is difficult to reconcile with their general opposition to midwives. How and to what extent physicians will respond to women's desire for more humanized and less interventionist care remains an open question. Given the problems facing maternity care in North America, expanding midwifery services is an alternative to examine seriously.

Midwifery defined by physicians, nurses and midwives: the birth of a consensus?

OBJECTIVE: To describe the form of midwifery practice preferred by physicians practising obstetrics, nurses providing maternity care and midwives. DESIGN: Mail survey conducted in 1991. SETTING: Province of Quebec. PARTICIPANTS: A systematic random sample of 844 physicians, 808 nurses and 92 midwives; 597, 723 and 92 respectively completed the questionnaire, for an overall response rate of 80%. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Midwife training options, range of responsibilities, location of midwifery care, relationship to other maternity care providers and degree of autonomy. RESULTS: Most of the physicians, nurses and midwives surveyed agreed that if midwifery was legalized, midwives should have a university degree, provide basic care to women with normal pregnancy and delivery, provide prenatal and postnatal care in hospitals and community health centres, perform delivery in hospitals and work in close collaboration with the other maternity care professionals. Disagreement existed concerning the level of university training required, the need for training in nursing first, the scope of medical intervention performed by midwives, out-of-hospital delivery, the autonomy of midwives and control over their practice. CONCLUSION: Some consensus on midwifery practice exists between physicians, nurses and midwives. In jurisdictions where opposition to midwives is strong, such consensus could serve as the starting point for the introduction of midwifery.

Sexual behaviors and condom use: a study of suburban male adolescents.

Sexual behaviors and condom use were surveyed in a sample of 1,312 male adolescents (ages 12-19 years) in Laval, the second largest city in the province of Quebec. The data were obtained via a self-administered questionnaire to which 98.8% responded. The study showed that male adolescents became sexually active, on average, at 13.9 years, an age younger than previously reported. Further, 60% of the adolescent males used a condom at their first intercourse, a figure which doubled that previously reported; its use, however, decreased to one-third when utilization at each intercourse was examined. Overall, condom use was greatest in 14-year-olds and decreased in older adolescents, being replaced by the pill. The study further revealed that 12-13-year-olds were less likely to use condoms and more likely to use ineffective methods than were 14-year-olds. Although condoms seem to be gaining a following among male adolescents, their use is transitory and is being replaced by the pill and other methods with low protective value against sexually transmitted disease (STD) and AIDS. These results underline the necessity to reorient our educational and promotional activities in STD prevention to the realities of this group.

[Hypercholesterolemia: attitude and practices of general practitioners in Laval]. / Hypercholestérolémie: attitudes et pratiques des omnipraticiens lavallois.

We surveyed via a mailed questionnaire physicians' attitudes and practices with regard to the screening, treatment and follow-up of hypercholesterolemia. The study was conducted in 1990-91 on the 255 generalists practicing in Laval (a suburb of Montreal) and achieved a 63% response rate. The results indicated that general practitioners were open to screening and treating their hypercholesterolemic patients. Physicians, however, noted a certain number of obstacles which affected their educational and therapeutic practices. The findings suggest that greater attention needs to be paid to helping physicians develop skills with respect to nutrition counselling. Future efforts should be directed at finding ways of integrating educational activities into primary care medicine.

Effects of residency training in family medicine v. internship training on professional attitudes and practice patterns.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether the professional attitudes and practice patterns of physicians with residency training in family medicine differ from those of generalists with internship training. DESIGN: Mail survey conducted in 1985-86. SETTING: Province of Quebec. PARTICIPANTS: A stratified random sample of French-speaking family and general practitioners who graduated after 1972 (325 physicians with residency training and 304 with internship training) (response rate 82%). MAIN RESULTS: Physicians with residency training were 3 years younger on average than those with internship training, were more likely to be female (38% v. 18%, p less than 0.001) and were more likely to work on a salaried basis in CLSCs (public community health centres) (36% v. 14%, p less than 0.001). Even after these confounding factors were controlled for, physicians with residency training seemed to be more sensitive to the psychosocial aspects of patient care and tended to attach more importance to informing patients about useful materials and resources concerning their health problems. They were not, however, more likely to value health counselling or integrate it in medical practice. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide some evidence that the new requirement that physicians complete a residency in family medicine to obtain medical licensure in general practice in Quebec may foster a more patient-centred approach to health care.