Medical Practice
Helping doctors face the uncomfortable task of discussing death
July 26th, 2017 Faced with the uncomfortable task of discussing death, the overwhelming majority of doctors avoid the topic, reports Stat News. In response, US advocates for improving end-of-life care have launched training sessions for doctors around the...
New countrywide training initiative to combat lifestyle diseases
July 12th, 2017 A new approach to patient care has been launched, developed at Stellenbosch University and spearheaded by Pharma Dynamics. The training initiative, aimed at reducing chronic lifestyle diseases, is being introduced in medical school curricula and...
It's not about the money for SA doctors... It's about poor working conditions and safety
July 5th, 2017 It's not money but poor working condition that's is the main reason doctors leave South Africa’s public health sector. And when it comes to emigrating, it was the safety and security of their families is the chief factor, found a survey by...Most of the public and GPs sceptical of drug trial claims – UK survey
Most people are more likely to trust advice from friends about medicines than scientific research, while GPs are even more sceptical than the general public, a UK survey found. IoL reports that a survey found that 63% of the public and 82% of GPs...
Most with acute conjunctivitis are getting the wrong treatment
June 28th, 2017 A study suggests that most people with acute conjunctivitis, or pink eye, are getting the wrong treatment. About 60% of patients are prescribed antibiotic eye-drops, even though antibiotics are rarely necessary to treat this common eye infection....
Your next doctor could be a bot – Artificial intelligence in healthcare
June 21st, 2017 Your next doctor could very well be a bot. And bots, or automated programmes, are likely to play a key role in finding cures for some of the most difficult-to-treat diseases and conditions, reports The Times. The report says artificial...
Another international insurer quits SA medical risk market
June 7th, 2017 South African medical practitioners have been hit by the sudden withdrawal by international insurer Chubb of medical professional indemnity cover, reports MedicalBrief. This follows upon a rash of withdrawals from the volatile medical...Standardised assessment to monitor prescribing skills
A new study describes a standardised assessment that ensures that students who graduate from UK medical schools have achieved a minimum standard of knowledge and skill related to prescribing medications. Following the introduction of the Prescribing...
Higher mortality rates with older/busier physicians
May 24th, 2017 Within the same hospital, patients treated by older physicians had higher mortality than patients cared for by younger physicians, except those physicians treating high volumes of patients, finds a large Harvard exploratory analysis. If the...Experts make the case for ending routine blood tests
The practice of ordering routine blood tests (“routine bloods”) for patients attending hospital regardless of clinical need is wasteful and potentially damaging, argue experts. Alastair Faulkner from Ninewells Hospital, Dundee and colleagues...
SA trainee doctors inadequately prepared to prescribe antibiotics
May 3rd, 2017 Trainee SA doctors are inadequately prepared to prescribe antibiotics‚ found a survey at the universities of the Witwatersrand, Free State and Cape Town. The Times reports a survey of final-year students at three major medical schools has...
Close to half GPs in UK plan to quit
April 19th, 2017 About two in five GPs in the south-west of England are planning to quit, exposing a potential doctors’ crisis in the National Health Service (NHS), reports The Guardian. A survey of more than 2,000 GPs in the region revealed the impending...Lack of strong scientific evidence in most off-label antidepressant prescriptions
Most off-label antidepressant prescriptions lack strong scientific evidence, finds a study by Jenna Wong at the department of epidemiology, biostatistics, and occupational health, McGill University, Montréal, Canada and colleagues at the Centre de...OpenNotes programme continues to pick up steam in US
The OpenNotes programme that encourages providers to share their visit notes with patients is continuing to pick up steam, Dr Homer Chin, said at the annual meeting of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). Despite...SA's obs-gynae crisis: Innovative risk solutions needed
The 'real crisis' of an imminent collapse of obs-gynae practices needs to be tackled with innovative, new sustainable solutions warns the SA Health Department. The SA Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (SASOG) has warned of the likely...