The Virtue of Hope in Medical Training

2021 ◽  
pp. 002436392110036
Author(s):  
Benjamin W. Frush ◽  
John Brewer Eberly

While many of the challenges of contemporary medical training are characterized uniformly as “burnout,” such a diagnosis is nonspecific and overlooks the degree to which the flourishing of medical practitioners depends on the development and exercise of virtue. The virtue of hope, in particular, is indispensable to sound medical practice generally and the flourishing of trainees. It is only through sound apprehension of the nature of the virtue of hope, the challenges to the cultivation of hope that residency poses, and practices that allow such cultivation, that contemporary trainees can learn to care well for patients and flourish in their own right. Summary: While the general term “burnout” is used to describe many of the challenges of contemporary medical training, a more precise characterization that unifies these challenges is a deficiency of the virtue of hope. Medical trainees face many obstacles to the cultivation of hope during training, but learning both to correctly identify this deficiency, and practices which prove a fitting response, offers a way forward.

Author(s):  
Ieva Ančevska

This article summarizes the various healing-related activities used in the Latvian healing tradition. To explain these activities and describe their performers and specialization, folklore sources and linguistic materials were used. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the diversity of folk healing activities and their names, while also clarifying their nature and use as much as possible. The linguistic and etymological analysis was used to investigate the healing activities and the names of their performers, but folklore examples were used for clarifying the meanings. By studying the healing tradition, the names of medical practitioners were collected from various sources, adding up to over 60 labels. When compiling the report, the representatives of the healing activities were divided into conditional groups according to the type of their main medical activities. Thus, the following groups of healing activities were formed: healing activities using the body, actions with spoken word and blowing, ritual and magic activities, defense techniques and liberating rituals. In addition to the medicinal practitioners who were active in healing, there were also counselors who sought out the causes of diseases through various means and searched for their best remedies. The survey in the article shows that the healing tradition uses diverse and specialized medical terms. However, as the examples show, most of them have used a combination of different practices. The name of the healer in question usually described the skills that were particularly developed and had been used most frequently. During tradition bans, names of healers became more general, and tabooed names were used instead. The general term “healer” has only been naturalized into society after the restoration of national independence.


2020 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 46-55
Author(s):  
Héctor García Hernández ◽  
Guadalupe Alvear Galindo

The purpose of this work is to provide elements to understand, in a broad way, the violence within medical training, since most of the work on the subject focuses on its consequences: for example, the physical and psychological conditions of violent acts in the medical training. The article begins with the concept of violence proposed by Galtung, that points out direct violence, structural violence and cultural violence. Then, it describes the hegemonic medical model as a sculptor of medical culture and its effect on medical practice and medical education. Afterwards, it describes the medical habitus and the hidden curriculum, two elements of the medical culture. The first one refers to how the medical personnel justifies the use of violence, the second one refers to what is taught about the structure, organization and function of the health institutions. Then, the article reviews the characteristics of the health institutions as spaces where an organized medical practice is crystallized in a rigid, hierarchical and vertical manner. We then focus on the worker/student conflict. These conditions are necessary for the appearance of direct violence in the medical training. Key words: Cultural violence; structural violence; direct violence; medical training; hegemonic medical model.


2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 267-285
Author(s):  
Alan Mackintosh

AbstractUntil the beginning of the nineteenth century, registering and regulating the training of any medical practitioners in Britain had rarely been attempted, unlike in many other European countries. During the Revolutionary War with France, fevers swept through British armies, leading to numerous fatalities and crushing military defeats, especially in the disastrous expedition to St Domingo. The problem, as forcibly advocated by Robert Jackson, the leading expert on military fevers, seemed to be poor medical care due to both lack of compulsory medical training and the unsuitability of whatever training was available for army medical practitioners. With the simultaneous rapid advance of French military and civilian medical training and the threat of a French invasion, regulating British medical training and excluding the unqualified became a military necessity, and suddenly medical reform was receiving widespread attention. Emphasising the benefits to the Britain’s fighting ability, the reform effort, led by Edward Harrison, a very provincial Lincolnshire physician, under the patronage of Sir Joseph Banks, the President of the Royal Society, gained the support of leading politicians, including three Prime Ministers. For a short time, comprehensive medical reform seemed inevitable: but the opposition of the medical corporations, especially the London College of Physicians, could not be circumvented, and although Harrison persisted in his efforts for 6 years, no legislation was achieved. Nevertheless, within months, the Association of Apothecaries continued the process by pressing for a more limited reform, culminating in the 1815 Apothecaries Act. The long march towards the full regulation of doctors in Britain was started by the perceived military needs of the country during the war with France.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-56
Author(s):  
Pramod Kattel

Ethics is a moral guide that helps the treatment group to be treated with due respect and care following the standard of practice. It also helps the research to be conducted without or minimal harm to the population under study. Besides ethics, clinical practice and research are guided by some nationally and internationally accepted principles or codes of conduct. The human subject under treatment or study should be respected to the utmost level and should be performed by trained personnel. The importance of ethics starts before studies so should be kept in medical curricula starting from basic sciences so that medical practitioners become acquainted from the beginning of the study.


2020 ◽  
Vol 87 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-406
Author(s):  
Paul M. Shaniuk

Burnout is highly prevalent among physicians and is associated with negative patient outcomes. Furthermore, medical training is a particularly vulnerable time as studies show that medical students, residents, and fellows experience burnout and emotional exhaustion at higher rates than both the general population and physicians in practice. Multiple recent studies have demonstrated the practice of religion and spirituality to be protective against burnout in trainees. Can Catholic academic physicians transfer these protective benefits of religion and spirituality to their trainees, who are at the highest risk, and who may or may not share their faith? An ancient Catholic tradition, the Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy, may hold the key. The Spiritual Works of Mercy are listed by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops as Counseling the Doubtful, Instructing the Ignorant, Admonishing the Sinner, Comforting the Sorrowful, Forgiving Injuries, Bearing Wrongs Patiently, and Praying for the Living and the Dead. Using this as a framework, examples of evidenced-based actions from the literature that have been shown to either prevent burnout or to improve the day-to-day experience of medical trainees were discussed. Examples include encouraging trainees to express doubts or to debrief after difficult and saddening cases. Academic physicians can provide instruction, feedback, or admonishment; demonstrate forgiveness of errors; and model the way in bearing wrongs patiently, all while uplifting their trainees in prayer. The Spiritual Works of Mercy can thus become a framework for academic physicians to uplift their trainees’ spirits and potentially prevent against burnout. Summary: Burnout is highly prevalent in medical students and in doctors during their residency or fellowship training, but multiple studies have shown regular practice of religion and spirituality to be protective against burnout. The Seven Spiritual Works of Mercy (Counsel the Doubtful, Instruct the Ignorant, Admonish the Sinner, Comfort the Sorrowful, Forgive All Injuries, Bear Wrongs Patiently and Pray for the Living and the Dead) provide a framework of powerful examples for teaching physicians, particularly Catholic teaching physicians, to uplift their students and potentially transfer this benefit to reduce their students’ risk for burnout.


2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-32
Author(s):  
Andrew Toyin Olagunju ◽  
Olasimbo Adenike Ogundipe ◽  
Victor Olufolahan Lasebikan ◽  
Ayodele Olurotimi Coker ◽  
Chinyere Nkiruka Asoegwu

Objectives: Postgraduate medical training is characteristically intensive and stressful. Given that anxiety disorders are often linked with stress-related scenarios; awareness of the burden of anxiety disorders among postgraduate medical trainees and their determinants is essential for informed intervention. This study was set to investigate the pattern of anxiety psychopathology, and to determine its correlates among doctors in a Nigerian postgraduate medical training facility.Methods: The participants, made up of 204 resident doctors were administered questionnaire to elicit their socio-demographic and work related variables. Subsequently, 12- item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) was used to ascertain the presence of emotional distress, and the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic & Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders- fourth edition [DSM-IV] Axis-1 Disorders, Non-patient edition (SCID-1/NP) was administered to characterize anxiety related psychopathology in the participants.Results: The mean age of participants was 33.44 (±4.50). In all, 120 (58.8%) respondents reported various difficulties with their examinations, 14(8.3%) reported having physical disorder and 59(28.9%) respondents were emotionally distressed. The prevalence of anxiety psychopathology based on DSM-IV criteria was 13.2% and the pattern elicited based on recognised categories include generalized anxiety disorder (4.9%), obsessive-compulsive disorder (3.4%), specific phobia (2.4%), social phobia (1.5%) and substance induced anxiety disorders (1.0%). Having additional qualification to the medical degree seems protective against anxiety psychopathology (?2= 3.91; df=1; p<0.05), while those with emotional distress (?2=17.54; df=1; p<0.001) were more likely to experience anxiety.Conclusion: Comprehensive and need-based mental health services with psychosocial support for trainee doctors are implied. Future research focusing on modifiable predictors of mental health challenges among resident doctors and their linkage with specific aspects of training is indicated.Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.15(1) 2016 p.25-32


2016 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 200-202
Author(s):  
RL Atenstaedt

The taking of an ethical-legal oath is a “rite of passage” for many medical practitioners. A 1997 paper noted that half of medical schools in the UK administer an oath. I performed a survey of UK medical schools to see whether these are still used today. An electronic survey was sent to 31 UK medical schools, asking them whether the Hippocratic Oath (in any version) was taken by their medical students; non-respondents were followed up by telephone. Information was obtained from 21 UK medical schools, giving a response rate of 68% (21/31). A total of 18 (86%) institutions use an oath. Ethical-legal oaths are therefore taken in the vast majority of UK medical schools today. However, a great variety are used, and there are advantages in standardisation. My recommendation is that the Standard Medical Oath of the UK (SMOUK) is adopted by all medical schools, and that this is also taken regularly by doctors as part of revalidation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 384-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danny Guo ◽  
Nam Phan ◽  
Kendall Ho ◽  
John Pawlovich ◽  
Neil Kitson

We believe cellphone text messages are commonly used in medical practice whether in rural or urban settings and that clinical photos are often attached to them. Our interest is the use of this technology to provide dermatology service to rural and remote British Columbia. Concern has been expressed about the security of confidential information and adequacy of privacy protection in such an application. We have found little published information about the extent of texting in rural and remote settings (and none in our jurisdiction) or the number and nature of privacy breaches that have actually occurred as a result. To obtain such information, we first set out to survey medical practitioners about their actual use. The results reported here are from medical trainees enrolled with the University of British Columbia who are in both rural and urban settings.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (1 suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 57-68
Author(s):  
Thaíla Soares da Costa Picanço ◽  
Maira Tiyomi Sacata Tongu Nazima ◽  
Braulio Erison França dos Santos ◽  
Olavo Magalhães Picanço Júnior ◽  
Maria Izabel de Albuquerque Cambraia ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Introduction Contemporary medical education prioritizes the development of scientific knowledge and technical skills, associated with professional attitudes. Attitudes are components of affective ability and influence medical practice, so they should be taught systematically during undergraduate training. The use of films as a pedagogical resource in medical training allows reflection on the biopsychosocial context in which the patient is inserted, contributing to the development of humanistic attitudes among students and future physicians. Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of cinema as an educational resource in teaching humanistic attitudes to medical students. Material and Methods A cross-sectional, quasi-experimental, qualitative and quantitative study was carried out with 107 students from the first to sixth year of the medical course of the Federal University of Amapá. The Medical Students Attitude Scale (validated by the author Maria de Fátima Colares, 2002) was used before and after the exhibition of films related to relevant themes in the medical area. This psychometric scale is composed of multiple-choice Likert-type responses and aims to assess the attitudes of medical students regarding the following factors: primary health care; psychological and emotional aspects involved in diseases; ethical aspects in professional practice; mental illness, death-related situations; scientific research. The Wilcoxon Rank Test was used to compare data from paired samples. Results All the factors evaluated by the medical students attitudes scale related to relevant aspects of medical practice showed a significant increase in the frequency of positive attitudes (p < 0.05) among the first- to fourth-year students following the cinema sessions. The fifth- and sixth-year students did not present significant changes in attitudes related to death, mental illness and contribution to the scientific advancement of medicine. Conclusion Cinema is an effective pedagogical tool in teaching humanistic attitudes in the preclinical series of the medical course.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Arman Anwar

This research was aimed at analyzing and finding the principle of liability in telemedicine medical practice proportionally.This research is a legal research with the approach of statute approach, conceptual approach and comparative approach, as well as the approach to the case approach. According to Article 24 paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution and Article 5 (1) of Act No. 48 of 2009 on Judicial Authority, determine that the judge shall explore, and understand the legal values and sense of justice in society. Thus Article 1367 paragraph (3) BW and Article 46 of Act No. 44 of 2009 on Hospitals in the application must be in the context of the intended. The principle of liability risk in medical practice telemedicine in proportion refers to professional liability among medical practitioners telemedicine. The theoretical legitimacy is based on professional relationships in the delegation of medical action based on the code of ethics, professional standards, and service standards, and standard operating procedures. Consequences on liability does not necessarily have to be based on errors primary physician (primary care physician / PCP) or primary nurse as subordinate as mean vicarious liability doctrine. Nomenclature "proportional" in a significant liability risk as the distribution of rights and obligations of professionals in proportion to each party's fault based on the values of equality (equitability), feasibility and appropriateness (fair and reasionableness). Accountability based on the viewpoint of interactive justice according to the values of professional skill, prudence or accuracy, responsibility, and colleague and the desire to do good for the sake of healing patients (doing good).


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