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Biomedical subjects

B Maheux

Publications and source records attributed to B Maheux.

46 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
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What accounts for physician opinions about midwifery in Canada?

The objective of this study was to identify the characteristics of physicians practicing obstetrics in the province of Quebec, Canada and relate these to their opinions about midwifery practice. A self-administered questionnaire was sent to a systematic random sample of 844 physicians; 597 physicians answered (response rate = 71%). Results show that physicians who were more open to midwives had a more client-centered approach to maternity care. They had attended premed school outside Canada but received their specialty training in Canada. They also had often collaborated with midwives since they had begun practicing. Physicians who were more open to midwives were less demanding in terms of level of midwife training. They agreed that midwives should be self-regulating. It is concluded that greater knowledge of midwives' practice, gained through collaboration in the workplace and interdisciplinary education, could help physicians to better understand the significant contributions that midwives can make to the health care system.

Adult↗
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[Primary care in Québec: a comparison between private practitioners and physicians working in public community health centers].

Since the early 1970s, there have been two primary care networks in Quebec: the traditional one characterized by fee-for-service; and the public one regrouping 10% of physicians and characterized by a salaried practice within publicly funded local institutions known as CLSCs. Using 1984 data collected on 616 Quebec generalists, 333 in private practice and 283 in CLSCs, we compared the physicians' profile in both networks. In contrast to their colleagues in private practice, CLSC physicians were younger, more often female and more involved in rural practice as well as in community health. They also differed in their attitudes and to some extent in their clinical practices. Overall, the study suggests that the introduction of a public primary care network has served to facilitate the emergence of a more comprehensive type of medical practice in the Quebec health care system.

Adult↗
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Factors influencing physicians' preventive practices.

We used data on a stratified random sample of 809 Quebec physicians to determine the extent to which the integration of prevention into medical practice was related to physicians' sociodemographic background, area of specialization, medical practice characteristics, and professional attitudes. Among factors positively associated with physicians' preventive practices were favorable attitudes toward prevention, patient education and patient-oriented activities, being in primary care medicine or in a medical specialty such as cardiology, gastroenterology, or pneumology, practicing in a public community health center on a salary basis, working in a group practice, having an office-based practice, devoting time to research activities, being older, and being a woman. Specialization in neurology, hematology, dermatology, nephrology, obstetrics-gynecology, and most notably surgery was negatively associated with preventive practices, as was working in an emergency room. Overall, the study variables explained 33% of the variance in physicians' preventive practices. The study underlines the prevailing role of attitudes in predicting physicians' preventive practices.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
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The professional attitudes and practice characteristics of male and female specialists.

Using data obtained from a mail survey of 119 female and 140 male specialists conducted in Quebec in 1983-1984, we compared men and women on their attitudes and on the organizational, professional, and clinical characteristics of their medical practices. Analyses were performed separately for medical and surgical specialists. Gender differences in the clinical practice of medical specialists were found, with women reporting greater attention to the social, preventive, and human aspects of patient care than men. Among surgical specialists, women expressed more favorable attitudes toward the social component in health care than their male colleagues. They also differed from men on indicators measuring various practice characteristics. These findings may reflect gender differences in type of surgical specialty, since the majority of female surgeons were in ophthalmology. Overall, fewer women specialists reported that they had assumed administrative responsibilities. The implications of these results are discussed in the context of the increasing feminization of the medical profession.

Adult↗
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Determinants of health counseling practices in hospitals: the patient's perspective.

We conducted a survey of 518 patients who had been admitted to three hospitals for selected medical, surgical, and obstetrical conditions. All patients came from the same city. One of the hospitals had put forward health promotion and disease prevention as a formal goal. Almost 40% of the respondents reported that they received health counseling during their hospital stay. Logistic regression analyses revealed that medical care processes and organizational factors were more important than patient characteristics in determining health counseling. The only patient characteristic that was positively related to health counseling was "perceived poor health status." Favorable conditions for the development of health counseling included having an attending physician different from the one who treated the patient before entering the hospital, an adequate number of physician visits, and a longer length of stay. Being admitted to a medical ward rather than a surgical or an obstetrical ward also was associated with more frequent health counseling. No significant differences were found among hospitals. Finally, having a general practitioner rather than a specialist as attending physician did not make a difference. These findings support the view that although hospitals have an important and legitimate role to play in health promotion, organizational and institutional obstacles to implementing such practices must not be ignored.

Adult↗
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Factors influencing physicians' orientation toward prevention.

We examined the influence of various background characteristics as well as other variables such as personal health practices, specialty choice, and political orientation, on the attitudes of medical graduates toward the physician's role in prevention. The study was part of a 1979 survey conducted in three U.S. medical schools. The results revealed that graduates who believed more strongly in the physician's role in prevention tended to be in primary care training, had a more liberal political orientation, and came more often from physician families. These graduates also believed more strongly that physicians ought to be role models for their patients in health habits. However, they did not manifest better personal health practices than physicians less oriented toward prevention. There was also a medical school effect, although it could not be determined whether this represented the influence of the curriculum or of the selection process into medical school.

Adult↗
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When female medical students are the majority: do numbers really make a difference?

According to Kanter's theory of group dynamics, when women constitute half or more of the population in a given setting, their interactions with their male peers are more balanced and they are in a better position to influence their colleagues' professional attitudes and behavior. The influence is only significant, however, if other structural factors favor attitude and behavioral changes. Using data obtained from a mail survey of 1,247 students (82.4% response rate) conducted at three levels of medical training in three medical schools where female students were in the majority, we compared male and female students on their professional attitudes. At entrance to medical school, women were more interested in the humanistic, psychosocial, and multidisciplinary components of the physician's role than their male colleagues. At the intermediate level, however, women's interest in humanistic and psychosocial issues was less pronounced and at the graduate level this gender difference was no larger present. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for medical training.

Attitude↗
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[Hypercholesterolemia: attitude and practices of general practitioners in Laval].

We surveyed via a mailed questionnaire physicians' attitudes and practices with regard to the screening, treatment and follow-up of hypercholesterolemia. The study was conducted in 1990-91 on the 255 generalists practicing in Laval (a suburb of Montreal) and achieved a 63% response rate. The results indicated that general practitioners were open to screening and treating their hypercholesterolemic patients. Physicians, however, noted a certain number of obstacles which affected their educational and therapeutic practices. The findings suggest that greater attention needs to be paid to helping physicians develop skills with respect to nutrition counselling. Future efforts should be directed at finding ways of integrating educational activities into primary care medicine.

Aftercare↗