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Attitudes of house‐physicians towards self‐poisoning patients
Author(s) -
CREED F. H.,
PFEFFER J. M.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
medical education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.776
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1365-2923
pISSN - 0308-0110
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2923.1981.tb02500.x
Subject(s) - house staff , medicine , family medicine , house call , suicide prevention , poison control , medical emergency
Summary Eighty‐two house‐physicians filled in a questionnaire concerning the care of self‐poisoning patients with special emphasis on training and attitudes. These recently qualified doctors dealt with large numbers of such patients and expressed dissatisfaction with their training in this respect. Hostile attitudes towards these patients developed most clearly at those district hospitals where psychiatrists are rarely available. During their 6 months as a house‐physician, doctors at the teaching hospital became more interested in making a full assessment of these patients whereas those at other hospitals became less so. Better training at both undergraduate and pre‐registration level is needed to make house‐physicians more able and more willing to fully assess these patients.