Memoria para optar al Título Profesional de Ingeniero en Recursos Naturales Renovables

Tesis para optar al grado de Magíster en Historia mención Historia de Chile.

Abstract This study deals with the phenomenon of a doctor-patient relationship from a relationship-centered care point of view. Relationship-centered care is viewed as an opportunity for the doctor to enhance comprehensive care of the patient and to improve the quality of primary health care. The research was conducted in the context of General Practice-education aimed at physicians specializing in general medicine. The training was organized by the General Practice Unit of Northern Ostrobothnia Hospital district (PPSHP) and the Department of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Oulu. The aim of the research is to increase understanding of the phenomenon of a patient-doctor relationship. The phenomenon is examined by looking at the possibilities for a doctor specializing in general medicine to have a personal doctor-patient relationship with dialogical orientation. With the help of personal reflection the doctor specializing in general medicine can develop ways to prepare for the relationship and be in it. The possibility for a patient to encounter valuable care is constructed through reflection and introduction of dialogue. A doctor working in relationship-centered care strategically receives information about the patient's personal experiences. Combining this information with the latest biomedical knowledge assists in the general recommendations of the Current Care Guidelines, when applying them individually. The research is qualitative. The data comprises 16 doctors who participated in the General Practice-education, their semi-structured thematic interviews with transcribed texts, as well as the findings from questionnaires completed at the end of the education. The data is analyzed using qualitative methods. The results showed that subjects felt that the core of general medicine is a personal doctor-patient relationship, in which it is essential to listen to the patient's concerns, experiences, thoughts and expectations when making treatment decisions and deciding on the correct diagnosis. Personal readiness is increased by the doctor-patient relationship when outlining the theoretical content, practicing situations of interaction, handling challenges that have emerged from work in a peer group, as well as the doctor's awareness based on previous work experience in medicine. There can be barriers, attitudes, beliefs and non-processed emotions that emerge from one's personal history of experiences; processing these strengthens the belief in one’s own abilities to work according to internal information and to be more personally present in relationships. The results could be utilized during basic medical education and post-graduate training, as well as in supervision. / Tiivistelmä Tutkimus käsittelee potilas-lääkärisuhteessa olemisen ilmiötä suhdekeskeisyyden näkökulmasta. Suhdekeskeisyyttä tarkastellaan lääkärin mahdollisuutena tehostaa potilaan kokonaisvaltaista hoitamista ja hoidon laatua. Tutkimus toteutettiin prosessiluontoisessa General Practice -koulutuksessa, joka oli suunnattu yleislääketieteeseen erikoistuville lääkäreille. Koulutuksen järjestivät Pohjois-Pohjanmaan sairaanhoitopiirin kuntayhtymän (PPSHP) yleislääketieteen yksikkö ja Oulun yliopiston lääketieteellisen tiedekunnan terveystieteiden laitos. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on lisätä ymmärrystä potilas-lääkärisuhteessa olemisen ilmiöstä. Ilmiötä lähestytään tarkastelemalla yleislääketieteeseen erikoistuvan lääkärin mahdollisuuksia olla potilas-lääkärisuhteessa persoonallisesti ja dialogisuutta tavoitellen. Persoonallisen reflektion avulla yleislääketieteeseen erikoistuva lääkäri voi kehittää valmiuksiaan asettua suhteeseen ja olla siinä. Reflektiivisyyden käynnistyminen ja dialogisuuden omaksuminen mahdollistavat potilasta arvostavien hoitokohtaamisten rakentumisen. Suhdekeskeisesti työskentelevä lääkäri saa henkilökohtaista tietoa potilaan kokemusmaailmasta. Tämän tiedon yhdistäminen uusimpaan biolääketieteelliseen tietoon auttaa yleisten Käypä hoito -suositusten soveltamisessa yksilöllisesti. Tutkimus on laadullinen tutkimus, jonka aineisto koostuu 16:n General Practice -koulutukseen osallistuneen lääkärin puoli-strukturoiduista teemahaastatteluista litteroiduista teksteistä, heidän reflektiopäiväkirjoistaan sekä koulutuksen lopussa suoritetusta palautekyselystä. Aineisto analysoidaan laadullisin menetelmin. Tulosten mukaan tutkittavat pitävät yleislääketieteen ytimenä persoonallista potilas-lääkärisuhdetta, jossa oikean diagnoosin ja potilasta hyödyttävien hoitopäätösten tekemisen kannalta on oleellista kuunnella potilaan huolia, kokemuksia, ajatuksia ja odotuksia. Persoonallisia valmiuksia lisäävät potilas-lääkärisuhteen sisältöjen teoreettinen jäsentely, vuorovaikutustilanteiden harjoittelu, työstä nousevien haasteellisten tapausten käsittely vertaisryhmässä sekä lääkärin kokemushistoriasta kumpuavien asioiden tiedostaminen ja käsittely. Omasta kokemushistoriasta kumpuavien esteiden, asenteiden, uskomusten ja tunteiden käsittelemättömyyden työstäminen vahvistaa uskoa omiin kykyihin toimia sisäisen informaation mukaan ja olla persoonallisemmin läsnä suhteissa. Tutkimuksen tuloksia voidaan hyödyntää lääkäreiden perus- ja jatkokoulutuksessa sekä lääkäreiden työnohjauksessa.

This thesis seeks to examine the ethical basis for occupational medicine, as it is practised in the United Kingdom (UK). There is empirical evidence of occupational physicians being confused with regard to confidentiality and consent, and variations in their practice. It is argued that the ethical guidance from the General Medical Council and the Faculty of Occupational Medicine on these matters, contributes significantly to such confusion. The doctor-patient relationship, consent for disclosure of a medical report, and medical confidentiality, all in the context of occupational medicine practice, are explored. These issues are addressed in the core part of this thesis in the form of the three published papers. In the first paper, the doctor-patient relationship in occupational medical practice is reviewed, and it becomes apparent that in the UK, the occupational physician carries out different roles and functions, ranging from duties that mirror those of a therapeutic encounter, to those that require the occupational physician to be completely independent for the purposes of a particular type of assessment (for ill-health retirement). The former is compatible with the assumption of a fiduciary relationship between doctor and patient, whereas in the latter situation, it would be incongruous to expect the doctor to be independent and owe the patient a “duty of undivided loyalty” simultaneously. In the second paper, consent for disclosure of information, in particular a medical report, is distinguished from the “informed consent” for treatment or interventional research, and the phrase “permission to disclose” is proposed for the disclosure situations. Although this distinction may not have much significance in therapeutic practice, the output of virtually all occupational physician activities results in the writing of a report, so this difference between the two “consents” has greater relevance. The third paper reviews the ethical, and in particular, legal basis for medical confidentiality with reference to an independently commissioned report. In such a situation, UK courts have been consistent in stating that disclosure of such a report to the commissioning party does not breach confidentiality, and no further consent for such disclosure is required. This conflicts with ethical guidance to occupational physicians on this matter. Such conflict between the law and ethical guidance are a further, and important, source of ethical confusion for occupational physicians. Indeed, a common theme through the three papers is that ethical guidance to occupational physicians is in parts either incongruent, incoherent, or conceptually flawed. This may not be surprising, as current ethical guidance is predicated on a doctor-patient relationship that exists in the usual setting for most doctor-patient encounters, that is, the therapeutic setting. It seems unreasonable to expect that simply transposing such an ethical paradigm into a different setting, with dissimilar roles and obligations, could work in a seamless manner. The occupational physicians’ ethical confusion thus reflects the confusion in their ethical guidance.

Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio) / Chronic diseases of lifestyle (CDL) are on a raising trend in the world regardless of age, economic class or geographical location of a population. The mortality rate associated with CDL is alarmingly among the highest globally. Tanzania is not exempted from this development. Literature indicates that physical activity is a health practice that can prevent CDL. It is recommended that medical practitioners should hold the responsibility of counselling patients on physical activity. Some studies outside Africa found an association between doctors’ physical activity patterns and their counselling practices on the same. This study therefore sought to establish whether physical inactivity among medical doctors in Tanzania significantly influenced their counselling practices on physical activity. A cross sectional quantitative survey at the Muhimbili National Hospital and Muhimbili Orthopedic Institute was conducted to derive the required information. A self administered structured questionnaire was voluntarily answered by 144 medical doctors. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17 was used for data capturing and analysis. Descriptive statistics were employed to summarize data and was expressed as means, standard deviation, frequencies and percentages. The students’t-test was used to compare mean physical activity between different groups. Furthermore students’t-test and analysis of variance tests were used to examine association between different variables. Chisquare tests were used to test for associations between categorical variables. Alpha level was set at p< 0.05. Most of the participants in this study were sedentary in their leisure time and only active at work. When their quality of physical activity counselling was assessed, the majority of them were found to be poor physical activity counsellors. A significant association was found between physical activity and age, as well as physical activity and counselling practice (p<0.05). Participants mostly informed their patients about the intensity and duration of exercising more than any other idea of physical activity such as types of exercises, issuing of a written prescription and planning for a follow up. Lack of knowledge and experience about details of physical activity were reasons offered for failure to counsel. Participants also reported the inconvenience of physical activity facility’s schedules, fatigue and tiredness to be their barriers to physical activity participation. Doctors in Tanzania lacked personal initiative to participate in physical activity and consequently lacked the motivation to counsel. Measures around enhancing this health practice should be enhanced by all stakeholders including medical doctors, physiotherapists and patients. The need for short term and long term training in matters related to physical activity are therefore necessary among the practicing doctors and those undergoing training in medical schools. Physiotherapists who are trained in movement science can offer valuable advice/information to medical doctors to ensure that medical doctors acquire physical activity prescription and counselling knowledge. Collaboration between stakeholders in campaigning against sedentary lifestyles should be enhanced. Further reasons for failure to counsel, hindrances to physical activity participation and modern approaches to counselling should be explored. / South Africa

Doctor Educationis / This study looks at the effect of a cross-cultural instructional approach on the learners’ conceptions of lightning and attitude towards science. It explored Basotho conceptions of lightning and thunder under the following themes: nature of lightning, protection against lightning, animalistic/humanistic behaviour of lighting and nature of wounds inflicted by lightning.

The diploma thesis is focused on the analysis of the level of computer literacy in the EUC Premium medical facility for doctors and nurses. The introduction introduces the definitions of computer and information literacy and their development. The next part is focused on the research of computer literacy of the employees of EUC Premium. Research is based on two methods - ethnographic research and questionnaire research. Based on ethnographic research, it was found that the level of computer literacy in this company was not too high, as confirmed by the questionnaire survey. Research issues have been identified that have shown that the company's smooth running can not be without the physical participation of IT support to solve the problem. Research results show authors recommendations for company leadership that can help increase computer literacy in the target organization.

Objective. To evaluate the validity and reliability evidence of the preceptor assessment of student tool (PAST) which was designed to assess doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) student rotation performance. Methods. Evaluation data were loaded into WINSTEPS software to conduct a Rasch rating scale analysis. Validity evidence was examined from construct and content validity perspectives, and reliability was assessed via student and item separation index and reliability coefficient. Data from 435 observations were included in the analysis. Results. All 19 items measured the same construct of interest and the five-point rating scale functioned appropriately and differentiated students' ability. However, the item/person map indicated an absence of items at the end of the measurement continuum. Conclusion. Although adding items at the end of the measurement continuum may be beneficial, PAST showed good validity and reliability evidence when used to evaluate PharmD student rotations and is suitable to assess mastery learning.

The study of communication was born with the study of rhetoric, and scholars have been examining the creation and reception of messages for thousands of years. However, the term rhetoric often has negative connotations, as we hear people label some statement as “just rhetoric” or we hear them say, “The action doesn't match the rhetoric.” However, rhetoric is a style of communication that takes into account the effective use of both verbal and non-verbal languages, and it is one of the main ingredients in the day to day communication in organizations, healthcare organizations being no exception. It is virtually impossible to communicate without the use of rhetoric. This study focused on healthcare organizations because the delivery of healthcare is built on communication, and there is more to understand about the usage of language and organizational rhetoric in healthcare organizations. To these effects, the study examined communication in healthcare organizations and the perceived use of rhetoric among healthcare professionals; it explored how healthcare professionals perceive communication with their audiences, how the use of rhetoric, as perceived by healthcare professionals, affects communication in healthcare organizations and the contribution of rhetoric, as perceived by healthcare professionals, in motivating healthcare audience in healthcare organizations. The five canons of rhetoric were employed as a theoretical framework, and semi-structured interviews were used as tools for data collection. While contributing to existing literature on health and organizational communication, this study will also contribute in providing both government and private organizations insights into the use of rhetoric in professional communication with the hope of enhancing the quality of communication in the workplace.

This thesis deals with work-related stress and stressors of medical staff, doctors and nurses. The aim is to expound this issue and to determine the level of stressors influencing the medical staff in given hospitals. As first in the theoretical section, the characteristics and specifics of medical profession are described, thereafter personality traits supposed for this profession. The second chapter describes stress, which medical staff is burdened with, and concrete typical stressors as well. The third chapter concerns burnout syndrome, which is a possible consequence of long-acting stress. The fourth and last chapter is devoted to the prevention and coping of stress and burnout. The practical section presents the evaluation of the survey concerning effect of stressors on the medical staff of four selected hospitals. According to the ascertained results are outlined measures for improving the situation and preventing acting stressors.