(Purpose) The purpose of our study was to assess the need for an external searchable resource to be used in conjunction with the American Board of Family Medicine's (ABFM) Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians (MC-FP) Examination, discuss the philosophical question of whether an ESR should be allowed on the examination, and outline…

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a policy statement in 2007 urging physicians to screen for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at 18 and 24 months. This study sought to identify the screening practices of pediatricians and family physicians (FPs) in following the AAP guidelines for ASD. A survey was mailed to 1,500 pediatricians and…

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) (n = 144) and primary care providers (PCPs) (n = 144) completed similar surveys assessing the ability of the PCP to address ASD-specific needs. Parents also rated their PCP's ability to deliver family-centered care. A majority of parents rated their PCP's ability as "not good" in addressing…

This quantitative, nonexperimental, correlational study sought to determine whether a relationship exists between family physicians' levels of self-directed learning readiness (SDLR) and their preferences for continuing medical education (CME) activities. The study also sought to determine whether years in clinical practice or size of clinical…

Dyadic concordance in physician-patient interactions can be defined as the extent of agreement between physicians and patients in their perceptions of the clinical encounter. The current research specifically examined two types of concordance: informational concordance--the extent of agreement in physician and patient responses regarding patient…

Objective: The aim of this study was to develop a comprehensive framework of quality improvement competencies for use in continuing professional development (CPD) and continuing medical education (CME) for European general practice/family medicine physicians (GPs/FDs). Methods: The study was carried out in three phases: literature review,…

Purpose: Expectations regarding aging (ERA) in community-dwelling older adults are associated with personal health behaviors and health resource usage. Clinicians' age expectations likely influence patients' expectations and care delivery patterns; yet, limited research has explored clinicians' age expectations. The Expectations Regarding Aging…

Introduction: Electronic knowledge resources have the potential to rapidly provide answers to clinicians' questions. We sought to determine clinicians' reasons for searching these resources, the rate of finding relevant information, and the perceived clinical impact of the information they retrieved. Methods: We asked general internists, family…

Since 2000, there has been an increasing emphasis on screening for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) during well-child visits (P. A. Filipek et al., 2000; C. P. Johnson & S. M. Myers, 2007). Pediatricians surveyed in 2 mid-Atlantic states reported extremely low rates of screening for ASD (8% of participants) in comparison with higher rates of…

This paper presents the results of research into GP perceptions of the impact of on-site counselling on general practice. The research is part of a larger evaluation of a local enhanced primary care mental service. The initial survey and in-depth interviews with GPs reported here focused on the pre-existing counselling service. The results suggest…

Context: Scope of practice is an important factor in both training and recruiting rural family physicians. Purpose: To assess rural Idaho family physicians' scope of practice and to examine variations in scope of practice across variables such as gender, age and employment status. Methods: A survey instrument was developed based on a literature…

Patient education in asthma management is important; however, there is little known about the characteristics of patients receiving asthma education or how often primary care physicians provide it. The objective of the study was to identify the characteristics of patients receiving asthma education. It was a cross-sectional study using 2001…

Context: Low salaries and difficult work conditions are perceived as a major barrier to the recruitment of primary care physicians to rural settings. Purpose: To examine rural-urban differences in physician work effort, physician characteristics, and practice characteristics, and to determine whether, after adjusting for any observed differences,…

Objective: Family practitioners are significant providers of mental health care and routinely report difficulty acquiring timely support in this area. The Collaborative Mental Health Care Network assembled groups of family practitioners and provided them with mental health practitioner mentors. This article addresses communication in the Network,…

Studied variation in physicians' practice styles and policies through a survey of 46 family physicians and internists. Overall, the results indicate that a brief open-ended survey can assess practice variations quickly, providing a basis to guide interventions. (SLD)