Postgraduate medical journal
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Multicenter Study
Grit and burnout in UK doctors: a cross-sectional study across specialties and stages of training.
Grit is characterised by the ability to persevere during difficulties and maintain a sustained effort over an extended period of time. Throughout their careers, doctors will experience many periods of stress and difficulty. This may result in burnout, defined by the presence of exhaustion and disengagement from work. This study aims to characterise the relationship between grit and burnout in doctors and to establish whether there are differences between specialties and levels of training. ⋯ An understanding of an individual's level of grit may be used to identify doctors at a greater risk of burnout. As a high level of grit is associated with less burnout, interventions to improve grit through resilience training should be examined. Further research is needed to understand how grit levels change during a doctor's career and why GPs experience higher levels of burnout.
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Multicenter Study
Clinical and diagnostic findings in patients with elevated cerebrospinal bilirubin.
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) spectroscopy can identify subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) when CT is negative in patients presenting with acute severe headache. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical use and usefulness of CSF spectrophotometry. Secondary objectives were to identify other causes of elevated CSF bilirubin, to analyse headache descriptions and to compare clinical features in patients with an elevated CSF bilirubin among those with and without an intracranial vascular cause of SAH (avSAH). ⋯ CSF bilirubin measurement has an important role in identifying avSAH in CT-negative patients presenting with a thunderclap headache. Better clinical selection of patients is required as CSF spectrophotometry, although sensitive, is not specific for SAH.
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Multicenter Study
Improving medical students' written communication skills: design and evaluation of an educational curriculum.
Written and verbal communication skills are important skills for all physicians. While verbal skills are taught and assessed in medical school, medical students report limited instruction in written communication skills. This study examined the impact of a curriculum delivered during a 6-week clinical rotation in Internal Medicine on the objective assessment of medical students' written communication skills. ⋯ The combination of a resident feedback workshop with medical student written communication tutorial improves objective evaluations of consultation note scores over student tutorial alone.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Multicentre study of investigation and management of inpatient hyponatraemia in the UK.
Hyponatraemia is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the investigation and management of hyponatraemia and to assess the use of different therapeutic modalities and their effectiveness in routine practice. ⋯ Underinvestigation and undertreatment of hyponatraemia is a common occurrence in UK clinical practice. Therefore, development of UK guidelines and introduction of electronic alerts for hyponatraemia should be considered to improve clinical practice.
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Multicenter Study
General practitioners' attitude to sport and exercise medicine services: a questionnaire-based survey.
Sport and exercise medicine (SEM) aims to manage sporting injuries and promote physical activity. This study explores general practitioners' (GPs) awareness, understanding and utilisation of their local SEM services. ⋯ There is a lack of awareness and understanding among GPs on the role of SEM within the National Health Service which may be resulting in suboptimal utilisation especially for patients who could benefit from increasing their activity levels.