Recent changes in the conceptualization of informed consent in medical encounters are reviewed to help provide a better understanding of the concept itself and of some difficulties in philosophical justifications for the requirement of informed consent. (Author/MLW)

The findings of a small pilot study, in which the perception of 16 obstetrician/gynocologists regarding their patients' degree of self-control as it related to medical problems, are analyzed. Findings suggested the physicians exhibited confusion about the concept of self-control and its applicability to patient care. (Author/MLW)

Obstetric patients rated the skills and assessed the roles of students caring for them during a clinical clerkship. They rated skills and attitudes high, generally, with lower ratings for their ability to answer questions and preparation to participate in care. Most felt students improved their care, primarily in supportive ways. (Author/MSE)

Patients can induce such intense emotions in physicians that these feelings can become a source of stress for the physician and interfere with patient care. Patient illnesses and conditions that caused dysphoria among three specialty groups of house officers were investigated. (Author/MLW)

The nature and direction of changes in empathy as measured by Hogan's empathy scale were explored over time for medical students in the class of 1979 at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine. Results indicated that empathy scores declined slightly over time and were unrelated to academic performance. (Author/MLW)

A study revealed a very high incidence of unrecognized feelings toward the patient (countertransference) and potentially harmful associated behaviors in a group of medical students. Data suggest the need for instructors to teach medical students about the concept of countertransference. (Author/MLW)

Physicians who were trained to give antismoking advice to patients did so effectively soon after training, but their performance deteriorated during the next nine months. Antismoking effectiveness is maintained if advice-giving rates are monitored monthly and physicians receive immediate corrective feedback. (Author/MLW)

The program and research staff of the Child Health Associate Program at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center modified the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory to evaluate trainees' interaction with parents of pediatric patients. The following qualities were measured: empathic understanding, congruence, and level of regard.…

Eight patients with stable rheumatoid arthritis were trained as instructors of musculoskeletal examination. Temperament tests were administered every six months, and those who remained in the program showed increasing confidence, competence, and emotional stability through the program. (Author/MSE)

As residency training programs attempt to integrate new educational programs, teachers may find residents less interested in learning about the psychosocial aspects of patient care than in the biomedical aspects. These attitudes may present barriers to implementing a curriculum designed to teach psychosocial skills. (MLW)

A program developed at the University of Arizona College of Medicine that used patient instructors to evaluate interviewing skills of medical students is described. Patient instructors are nonphysicians who are taught to function in the roles of patient, teacher, and evaluator. (Author/MLW)

A review of American medical practice from 1876 to 1975 is presented in this Alan Gregg Memorial Lecture. Social and cultural influences are described, and it is concluded that the central and essential feature in medicine is the patient-physician relationship, in which physician actions should always be determined by what is beneficial to the…

The fundamental stages in the changes physicians make in their treatment of patients were identified as priming (coming to feel dissatisfaction with some aspect of practice behavior), focusing (learning of alternative practice behavior), and follow-up (obtaining further information). A model for continuing medical education is provided.…

A study of 202 physicians' ability to recognize well-established signs of suicide potential showed that certain groups predictably showed greatest recognition (e.g., psychiatrists), but that most physicians across specialties were equally knowledgeable about the signs studied. (MSE)

A study to determine whether attitudes of medical students toward cancer patients are as negative as their attitudes toward the chronically ill found significant difference between attitudes toward cancer patients and patients in general. Support was also found for the existence of negative attitudes in the treatment of cancer patients.…