Is there a doctor in the house? An analysis of the practice of physicians' treating their own families
Article Abstract:
Physicians may not be able to deliver the same quality of care to members of their own family as to non-related patients. Physicians are not prohibited by law from treating family members, but many professional medical organizations discourage this practice. Several issues should be considered by physicians before diagnosing or treating family members. Physicians must consider whether they are qualified to meet their family member's medical needs. They may be too close to family members to ask them intimate questions about their medical history, or to disclose bad news. They may not be objective enough to to judge the appropriate amount of care needed by relatives. Treatment of family members may provoke or intensify family conflicts. Individuals may be more willing to comply with care given by an unrelated physician than that give by a relative. Physicians who refer their relatives to other physicians may interfere with treatment given by another physician. Physicians who treat family members must consider whether they can be held accountable to their peers and the public for this treatment.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1992
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The psychology of postponement in the medical marriage
Article Abstract:
The marriages of many physicians are marked by a pattern of postponement. Physician-couples, faced with the demands of medical education and training, attend to the immediate requirements of establishing good standing within the medical profession while planning for the future. Evidence suggests that physicians' marriages are marked by lack of emotional intimacy which results in marital discord. The frequent tendency to use the demands of medical training or medical practice to justify absence or unavailability is a reflection of a significant emotional issue for many physicians. Male physicians, in particular, are reluctant to acknowledge their discomfort with closeness and are often unwilling to deal with problems of intimacy and emotional closeness in their marriages. Physicians commonly exhibit compulsive personalty traits and work habits (the preference for work over family life), that are two of the primary barriers preventing the establishment of marital intimacy.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1989
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Divorce among physicians: comparisons with other occupational groups
Article Abstract:
An evaluation of the existing research pertaining to the quality and stability of physicians' marriages and an attempt to place the divorce rate among physicians within the context of divorce patterns in the general U.S. population is presented. Researchers could not find any empirical evidence in the literature to support the claim that physicians are unsatisfied with the quality of their marriages. Weaknesses in previous research pertaining to the evaluation of physicians' marriages leave open the question of whether they are more or less prone than other groups in society to divorce. On the other hand, conclusions drawn from the analyses of 1970 and 1980 U.S. census data indicate that physicians are less likely to divorce than other occupational groups, including members of other professions. Physicians tend to marry later than average; an attribute that is associated with a lower risk for divorce.
Publication Name: JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0098-7484
Year: 1989
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