Oh yes, some younger doctors might look like teenagers but their knowledge is bang up to date, unlike many older practicioners who fail to keep up with medical science once they have a good posting. With the huge number of journals available now, and shortage of time in busy practices we can't be too hard on them for not reading every new article. There should be something in place to encourage established HCPs to keep abreast of the more important advances and changes in SPs.
Younger HCPs are also less willing to assume they already know the answers, and best treatment and are thus more likely to seek help from resources like this ListServe and online evidence repositories like Cochrane. Experience in any area must always be combined with reviews of the latest relevant evidence.
Best wishes Jo
From: ray kirk <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thu, 28 July, 2011 22:18:20
Subject: Fwd: [SPAM: 3.000] Patients worse off with more-experienced docs? In a study that flies in the face of common sense, sicker patients turned out to fare worse under the care of seasoned doctors than when newcomers to medicine looked after them.
Hi all
Did the study control for case-mix? Maybe the more experienced doctors treated the more complex presenting conditions and patients, hence not a surprising result.
cheers
Ray
-------- Original Message --------
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/15/us-patients-worse-off-idUSTRE76E62T20110715
According to findings in the American Journal of Medicine, patients whose
doctors had practiced for at least 20 years stayed longer in the hospital and
were more likely to die compared to those whose doctors got their medical
license in the past five years.
no doubt this raises serious questions and supports the evidence based approach
and the need for doctors to remain seasoned and in touch with not just the needs
of the patient but the updated science.
Best,
Paul E. Alexander
