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Should telehealth cost less than in-person visits?
Conflict recently divided a US Congress hearing – where it was agreed that using telemedicine, home visits, remote monitoring, and other strategies allowing patients...
Redefining medical 'professionalism' in a gender and racially diverse world
Defining professionalism for the medical workforce of today often fails to take into account the racial, ethnic, gender diverse professionals who make up the...
The health benefits of seeing the same GP
Researchers have confirmed the benefits of seeing the same GP over time, finding that these include improving patient health, extending intervals between visits, and...
Medics struggled to break death news during Covid – SA study
Breaking bad news is now an integral part of most healthcare professional training, but it’s important to teach how to do it using different...
Checking BP in doctor’s rooms not always ideal
Experts suggest that measuring BP can be done more accurately in a patient’s home rather than in the doctor’s rooms.
Measuring BP accurately can be...
Doctors without jobs as health purse tightens
With the number of unemployed recently qualified doctors standing at almost 700, Health Minister Joe Phaahla this week said provinces are unable to afford...
Eating disorders not uncommon among MDs
More doctors have unhealthy eating habits than thought, with the stress of the job – and more recently, Covid-19 – among the factors likely...
How and when to de-prescribe meds
For many patients, prescriptions never change – except to become more numerous – but as some experts have pointed out, doctors are all taught...
Doctors dump scales as focus shifts from patients' weight
For years, weight has been used as a measure of health in doctors’ offices, a higher body mass index being correlated with heart disease,...
A dose of humility for doctors, nurses leads to better healthcare
Better healthcare for patients begins with humility – a term not often associated with medicine, writes Barret Michalec in The Conversation.
Michalec writes:
I witnessed displays...
Skipping hand hygiene before donning gloves is faster, just as safe – US trial
A cluster, randomised trial involving 13 US hospital units and including some 3 800 healthcare providers, found that a direct-gloving strategy led to improved...
How Covid helped thousands address their needle phobia
Of all of the challenges facing mass Covid-19 vaccination, fear of needles is one of the least acknowledged by public-health campaigns – estimations are...
GPs allege ‘corporate bullying’ after Medicross contract switch
Medicross has denied accusations of “corporate bullying”, after about 50 private GPs – who ended their practice administration contracts with Medicross to join a...
HPCSA persists in enforcing regulations declared ‘unlawful’
The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) continues to punish doctors with hefty fines for contravening regulations which were found to be unlawful...
Review probes link between nosebleeds and hypertension
Nosebleeds – epistaxis – and hypertension are common conditions in the adult population, but establishing a link between blood pressure level and the incidence of epistaxis in a patient...
Call for overhaul of junior doctors' training
The existing cumbersome and sometimes inefficient system of training, internships and community service needs to be revamped, streamlined and improved, a group of local...
Dealing with the trauma of a patient’s suicide
Most doctors aren’t trained to expect suicide in a patient, so they often think of it as a personal failure, and even, perhaps, question...
HPCSA accused of failing women victims of medical malpractice
As the sole regulatory body for doctors in the country, the Health Professions Council of South Africa is the only institution that can hold...
Medical schemes deny ‘racist’ algorithm claim
Medical schemes this week came out fighting against allegations of racial discrimination, rejecting concerns by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) about possible bias...
Private sector frustration as nursing staff flock to greener pastures
As countries across Africa count the cost of an exodus of talent from its fragile healthcare sectors to richer countries, the situation in South...
Doctors more neurotic than patients, finds Australian research
In research that could have clinic implications for doctor-patient relationships, two nationally representative Australian surveys found doctors may be more neurotic than both patients...
ChatGPT tops doctors when it comes to bedside manner – US study
ChatGPT appears to have a better “bedside manner” than some doctors – at least when their written advice is rated for quality and empathy,...
Over-prescribed antibiotics cause significant harm – large US analysis
The over-prescription and unnecessary recommendation of antibiotics is not only leading to antibiotic resistance, but also causing significant patient harm, according to a recent...
How physicians can cope with burnout
Large healthcare organisations are leaving physicians feeling overwhelmed, beaten up, and exhausted, with a recent report showing that in the US, 53% of physicians...
Study flags 'highly prevalent' mistreatment at top SA medical school
A recently published study – the first of its kind – found that medical student mistreatment was highly prevalent at a South African medical school...
Not our job to place young doctors, says Health Department
Despite South Africa’s critical shortage of doctors, with barely one doctor for every 1 000 patients, the national Health Department has told jobless doctors...
Why reverse mentoring should be used more in healthcare sector
Opening up communication across generations as medical technology, best practice and attitudes change is critical, say SA Raju and DS Sanders of the Academic...
Rheumatologists top happiest doctors list
Over the past few years, the global pandemic has highlighted many long-standing issues within medicine, and it sometimes appears that it’s a dying career...
First US guidelines for combination of cannabis and anaesthesia
Surgical patients scheduled for anaesthesia should be screened for cannabis use, and if necessary, the operation delayed or rescheduled, according to new guidelines from...