Empathize me, Doctor- Έλα στη θέση μου, Γιατρέ

“Empathize me, Doctor!” is an experiential training program aiming at improving empathic understanding in healthcare providers. Its duration is 60 hours distributed in three 20-hour workshops. It is not about learning a technique but it is mostly about being introduced in a whole new way of being.


Empathize me, Doctor!” is based in the principles of Person- Centered Approach (PCA), founded by Carl Rogers (1902- 1987), one of the most influential psychotherapists of his century. Empathy is cornerstone in the terms of PCA and does not constitute a technique but a way of acting, being, behaving.
The training program contains theory, personal growth and skills development. Presentations, encounter groups, role- plays, study groups, experiential exercises through art and play are only some of the “tools” used to teach healthcare professionals, how to be empathic.

empathize me doctor

Yes to one thing… no to the others.

Wellcome Library, London

One of the perennial problems that faces doctors who are in direct contact with patients is time management.  It is the one resource we all have to allocate, and with the multitude of different roles we all have to play – parent / sibling / doctor / teacher / friend / spouse / club captain / society president / charity trustee / or anything else for that matter – it can be difficult.

Brain Basics

National Institute of Mental Health (USA)
Brain Basics provides information on how the brain works, how mental illnesses are disorders of the brain, and ongoing research that helps us better understand and treat disorders.

Brain Basics will introduce you to some of this science, such as:

• How the brain develops
• How genes and the environment affect the brain
• The basic structure of the brain
• How different parts of the brain communicate and work with each other
• How changes in the brain can lead to mental disorders, such as depression.

Κάντε ‘κλίκ’ στην εικόνα για να συνδεθείτε στο “Brain basics”

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Treatment of Depression in Primary Care: Using Tools to Improve Outcomes

CME Institute: Evaluating and Monitoring Treatment Response in Depression Using Measurement-Based Assessment and Rating Scales

Madhukar H. Trivedi, MD

Department of Psychiatry and the Mood Disorders Research Program and Clinic, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas

Although many treatment options are available for MDD, only about 20% of patients receive adequate treatment, according to the NCS-R study (AV 1).¹ Patients may require multiple treatment steps or a combination of medication and nonpharmacologic interventions, such as exercise or psychotherapy, to achieve remission and return to presymptomatic levels of functioning. When patients do not achieve a sufficient reduction in depressive symptoms, clinicians must decide how to improve partial or nonresponse and when to adjust, switch, or augment medication.

Because global clinical judgment is not always accurate, the APA guidelines² recommend regularly and systematically assessing patient outcomes to aid in treatment planning and decision-making. To comprehensively evaluate illness course and treatment impact, clinicians should supplement their clinical judgment by using standard tools to assess depressive symptoms and implementing measurement-based care (MBC).

GPs demand protection against violent patients

GP practices say their ability to protect staff is being undermined by a lack of early warning about potentially high-risk violent patients and poor support from NHS officials.

A GP survey of 610 GPs found 79% have felt threatened by a patient in their practice at some point in their career, and more than a quarter in the past year.

One respondent said a new patient with a history of violence had stabbed a GP in the neck. Another said a patient threatened staff with a replica gun, while another GP said a violent patient broke his jaw.

One in six GPs reported having been attacked by a patient in their practice, and more than one in nine during a home visit. One in eight GPs said a member of staff in their practice had been attacked by a patient in the past 12 months.

Balancing life as a GP trainer

Professor Rodger Charlton examines the benefits of becoming an educational supervisor

GP registrars and their trainers require protected time for teaching (Photo: JH Lancy)

Becoming a GP trainer requires a delicate balancing act of continuing to provide a service to your patients and being a teacher.
One of the great joys of being a GP trainer is seeing a new doctor develop and gain confidence in the community, an environment so different from working in a hospital.
This is not just about learning how to manage conditions such as chickenpox or fungal nail infections, which a GP in training is unlikely to have seen before, but more than that, it involves dealing with uncertainty and seeing patients present with undifferentiated illness.

Multiple sunburns as an adolescent increases melanoma risk by 80%

With incidence rates of melanoma rising for at least 30 years, it is not surprising that new research suggests that 5 or more blistering sunburns experienced before the age of 20 could increase melanoma risk by 80%.

A study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention (CEBP) proposes that in a cohort of 108,916 white women, those who had a minimum of 5 severe sunburn incidents between the ages of 15 and 20 had an increased risk of all skin cancers.

With a lifetime risk of 2% (1 in 50), melanoma is more than 20 times more common in white Americans than African-Americans.

Senior GP criticises 'galling' NICE call for GP empathy training

A leading GPSI and government advisor has criticised NICE's call for GPs to be given extra training on being empathetic towards overweight patients, saying it is already a 'core' part of a GP's role.

Dr Haslam: NICE advice is 'galling' (Photo: Paul Starr)

Η ΠΡΩΤΟΒΑΘΜΙΑ ΦΡΟΝΤΙΔΑ ΥΓΕΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ Ο ΕΟΠΥΥ ΣΕ ΚΡΙΣΙΜΟ ΣΤΑΥΡΟΔΡΟΜΙ

Γιάννη Τούντα

Τα λάθη στον σχεδιασμό και στη λειτουργία του ΕΣΥ, αλλά και πιο πρόσφατα του ΕΟΠΥΥ, είχαν ως αποτέλεσμα η Πρωτοβάθμια Φροντίδα Υγείας (ΠΦΥ), αντί να αποτελεί τη ραχοκοκαλιά του συστήματος υγείας, να είναι ο αδύνατος κρίκος, ή μάλλον ο ανύπαρκτος κρίκος του συστήματος. Η ΠΦΥ ποτέ δεν μπόρεσε να οργανωθεί ως τέτοια στη χώρα μας παραμένοντας ως σήμερα πολυκερματισμένη πρωτοβάθμια περίθαλψη και όχι σύμφωνα με τα διεθνή πρότυπα, σύστημα με υπηρεσίες πρόληψης, προαγωγής και αγωγής υγείας, οικογενειακής ιατρικής, νοσηλείας στο σπίτι, κ.α. 

Σήμερα όμως, που η οικονομική κρίση διεθνώς και ιδιαίτερα στη χώρα μας θέτει ως προτεραιότητα τη μετατόπιση του βάρους της περίθαλψης από τα δαπανηρά νοσοκομεία στις πολύ πιο οικονομικές και προσιτές εξωνοσοκομειακές υπηρεσίες, η οργάνωση ενός συστήματος ΠΦΥ αποτελεί άμεση ανάγκη για την επιβίωση του δημοσίου συστήματος υγείας, σε αντίθεση με το παρελθόν, όπου άλλες πελατειακές και συντεχνιακές ανάγκες υπερτερούσαν.

Why are you here to see the doctor today?

...Their stories are more than medical
problems. The problems become part of their existence,
and doctors should realize that they need to treat the person
not just the disease...

Knock, knock. 

Take a breath. Hand on the knob.

Meet and greet. Then comes the line: “So, why are

you here to see the doctor today?” Behind every

door lies a story.

Knock, knock.

So, why are you here to see the doctor today?

Why more GP practices are taking the plunge into online health services

Online health services: Take the plunge!

Matt Murphy says now is the time to take dive into the world of online services and join the growing number of GP practices and patients who have already taken that leap of faith.
The move to online services in general practice takes a major leap forward this month (April) when the new GP contract in England comes into force. It requires GPs to offer patients online repeat prescriptions and appointments, and as a minimum, give patients access to their summary care record by April 2015. EMIS pioneered online patient services for general practice and a growing number of GP practices and patients are embracing them.

Empathetic GPs may reduce depression, self-harm in older patients

Written by  Chris Thomas

“They also suggest that, in some instances, the relationship between patients and physicians might be more therapeutic than the drugs they prescribe.”— W/Professor Almeida. Image: iStockTEACHING GPs to be more empathetic may reduce the prevalence of depression, self-harm and suicidal thoughts in older patients, a study has found.
Published in the Annals of Family Medicine, the biggest study of depression in older people in Australia was conducted by UWA researchers with more than 370 GPs and almost 22,000 patients taking part in the two-year project.

Depression in Patients with CKD: A Person Centered Approach

Patients with chronic kidney disease, due not only to the complexity and multidimensional nature of problems, but mainly to the long term duration of the disease, are one of the most difficult groups of patients, often suffering from psychiatric morbidity. Depression according to a number of surveys is the most common psychological problem in patients undergoing renal dialysis. The high prevalence of the disease considers necessary for the systematic investigation of the problem and provide an adequate response. This review paper we deal with depressive symptoms in patients with CKD, using the person-centered approach, which is based on the principles of existentialism and phenomenology. Main concept is the equal relationship between therapist and the client, so that the person is able to understand himself/herself, to change the perception of him/her, change espoused attitudes and redefine the way in which he/she directs the behavior

by Kiosses Vasilios and Karathanos Vasilios 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/cha62v6v94498y5/depsession%20_ckd.pdf

Η μουσική ως φάρμακο του πόνου και του άγχους κατά τη διάρκεια καρδιολογικών επεμβάσεων

Ευρωπαϊκή βράβευση επιστημονικής ομάδας του Ωνάσειου Καρδιοχειρουργικού Κέντρου για εργασία σχετικά με το ρόλο της μουσικής στον ασθεεή κατά τη διάρκεια αιματηρών ηλεκτροφυσιολογικών επεμβάσεων.

Μια σημαντική επιστημονική διάκριση απέσπασε ο καρδιολογικός τομέας του Ωνασείου Καρδιοχειρουργικού Κέντρου στα πλαίσια του Ευρωπαϊκού Συνεδρίου της Πρόληψης των Καρδιαγγειακών Νοσημάτων (Europrevent 2014) που έγινε πρόσφατα στο Άμστερνταμ 8-10 Μαΐου 2014.

What is an Asthma Action Plan?

An Asthma Action Plan is a set of instructions for how to manage your asthma symptoms and maintain good asthma control. Every person who has asthma should have a written Asthma Action Plan.

Why should I have an Asthma Action Plan?

Having an up-to-date, written Asthma Action Plan has been shown to reduce the chance of needing emergency medical treatment or hospitalisation for asthma. Despite this, many Australians who have asthma do not have an Asthma Action Plan.

Reproduced with permission from the National Asthma Council Australia.

Ask your doctor to prepare an Asthma Action Plan with you that includes:

• all your asthma medicines and how to take them
• which medicines you take every day, even when you feel well
• signs and symptoms of worsening asthma
• what to do if your symptoms worsen
• what to do if you have an asthma attack.

Make sure that your written Asthma Action Plan is regularly reviewed and updated by your doctor.

You can download an Asthma Action Plan from Asthma Australia or the National Asthma Council Australia.

You should provide carers, teachers, friends and family with a copy of your child’s Asthma Action Plan so that everyone involved in your child's care understands the symptoms and knows what to do in an asthma emergency.http://www.nps.org.au/conditions/respiratory-problems/chronic-airways-and-breathing-problems/asthma/for-individuals/monitoring-and-managing-asthma/asthma-action-plan