Conscience and the Way of Medicine.

Disputes about conscientious refusals reflect, at root, two rival accounts of what medicine is for and what physicians reasonably profess. On what we call the "provider of services model," a practitioner of medicine is professionally obligated to provide interventions that patients request so long as the interventions are legal, feasible, and are consistent with well-being as the patient perceives it. On what we call the "Way of Medicine," by contrast, a practitioner of medicine is professionally obligated to seek the patient's health, objectively construed, and to refuse requests for interventions that contradict that profession. These two accounts coexist amicably so long as what patients want is for their practitioners to use their best judgment to pursue the patient's health. But conscientious refusals expose the fact that the two accounts are ultimately irreconcilable. As such, the medical profession faces a choice: either suppress conscientious refusals, and so reify the provider of services model and demoralize medicine, or recover the Way of Medicine, and so allow physicians to refuse requests for any intervention that is not unequivocally required by the physician's profession to preserve and restore the patient's health.

Addressing religion and spirituality in the intensive care unit: A survey of clinicians.

OBJECTIVE: Studies have shown that when religious and spiritual concerns are addressed by the medical team, patients are more satisfied with their care and have lower healthcare costs. However, little is known about how intensive care unit (ICU) clinicians address these concerns. The objective of this study was to determine how ICU clinicians address the religious and spiritual needs of patients and families. METHOD: We performed a cross-sectional survey study of ICU physicians, nurses, and advance practice providers (APPs) to understand their attitudes and beliefs about addressing the religious and spiritual needs of ICU patients and families. Each question was designed on a 4- to 5-point Likert scale. A total of 219 surveys were collected over a 4-month period. RESULT: A majority of clinicians agreed that it is their responsibility to address the religious/spiritual needs of patients. A total of 79% of attendings, 74% of fellows, 89% of nurses, and 83% of APPs agreed with this statement. ICU clinicians also feel comfortable talking to patients about their religious/spiritual concerns. In practice, few clinicians frequently address religious/spiritual concerns. Only 14% of attendings, 3% of fellows, 26% of nurses, and 17% of APPs say they frequently ask patients about their religious/spiritual needs. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: This study shows that ICU clinicians see it as their role to address the religious and spiritual needs of their patients, and report feeling comfortable talking about these issues. Despite this, a minority of clinicians regularly address religious and spiritual needs in clinical practice. This highlights a potential deficit in comprehensive critical care as outlined by many national guidelines.

Attitudes of paediatric and obstetric specialists towards prenatal surgery for lethal and non-lethal conditions.

BACKGROUND: While prenatal surgery historically was performed exclusively for lethal conditions, today intrauterine surgery is also performed to decrease postnatal disabilities for non-lethal conditions. We sought to describe physicians' attitudes about prenatal surgery for lethal and non-lethal conditions and to elucidate characteristics associated with these attitudes. METHODS: Survey of 1200 paediatric surgeons, neonatologists and maternal-fetal medicine specialists (MFMs). RESULTS: Of 1176 eligible physicians, 670 (57%) responded (range by specialty, 54%-60%). In the setting of a lethal condition for which prenatal surgery would likely result in the child surviving with a severe disability, most respondents either disagreed (59%) or strongly disagreed (19%) that they would recommend the surgery. Male physicians were twice as likely to recommend surgery for the lethal condition, as were physicians who believe that abortion is morally wrong (OR 1.75; 95%CI 1.0 to 3.05). Older physicians were less likely to recommend surgery (OR 0.57; 95%CI 0.36 to 0.88). For non-lethal conditions, most respondents agreed (66% somewhat, 4% strongly) that they would recommend prenatal surgery, even if the surgery increases the risk of prematurity or fetal death. Compared with MFMs, surgeons were less likely to recommend such surgery, as were physicians not affiliated with a fetal centre, and physicians who were religious (ORs range from 0.45 to 0.64). CONCLUSION: Physician's attitudes about prenatal surgery relate to physicians' beliefs about disability as well as demographic, cultural and religious characteristics. Given the variety of views, parents are likely to receive different recommendations from their doctors about the preferable treatment choice.

Project on the Good Physician: Further Evidence for the Validity of a Moral Intuitionist Model of Virtuous Caring.

THEORY: In the Project on the Good Physician, the authors propose a moral intuitionist model of virtuous caring that places the virtues of Mindfulness, Empathic Compassion, and Generosity at the heart of medical character education. HYPOTHESES: Hypothesis 1a: The virtues of Mindfulness, Empathic Compassion, and Generosity will be positively associated with one another (convergent validity). Hypothesis 1b: The virtues of Mindfulness and Empathic Compassion will explain variance in the action-related virtue of Generosity beyond that predicted by Big Five personality traits alone (discriminant validity). Hypothesis 1c: Virtuous students will experience greater well-being ("flourishing"), as measured by four indices of well-being: life meaning, life satisfaction, vocational identity, and vocational calling (predictive validity). Hypothesis 1d: Students who self-report higher levels of the virtues will be nominated by their peers for the Gold Humanism Award (predictive validity). Hypothesis 2a-2c: Neuroticism and Burnout will be positively associated with each other and inversely associated with measures of virtue and well-being. METHOD: The authors used data from a 2011 nationally representative sample of U.S. medical students (n = 499) in which medical virtues (Mindfulness, Empathic Compassion, and Generosity) were measured using scales adapted from existing instruments with validity evidence. RESULTS: Supporting the predictive validity of the model, virtuous students were recognized by their peers to be exemplary doctors, and they were more likely to have higher ratings on measures of student well-being. Supporting the discriminant validity of the model, virtues predicted prosocial behavior (Generosity) more than personality traits alone, and students higher in the virtue of Mindfulness were less likely to be high in Neuroticism and Burnout. CONCLUSIONS: Data from this descriptive-correlational study offered additional support for the validity of the moral intuitionist model of virtuous caring. Applied to medical character education, medical school programs should consider designing educational experiences that intentionally emphasize the cultivation of virtue.

Personality Traits Are Associated with Academic Achievement in Medical School: A Nationally Representative Study.

OBJECTIVE: This nationally representative study sought to identify personality traits that are associated with academic achievement in medical school. METHODS: Third-year medical students, who completed an initial questionnaire in January 2011, were mailed a second questionnaire several months later during their fourth year. Controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and burnout, the authors used multivariate logistic regressions to determine whether Big Five personality traits were associated with receiving honors/highest grade in clinical clerkships, failing a course or rotation, and being selected for the Alpha Omega Alpha or Gold Humanism Honor Society. RESULTS: The adjusted response rates for the two surveys were 61 (n = 564/919) and 84% (n = 474/564). The personality trait conscientiousness predicted obtaining honors/highest grade in all clinical clerkships. In contrast, students high in neuroticism were less likely to do well in most specialties. Students with higher conscientiousness were more likely to be inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society, while students high in openness or agreeableness traits were more likely to be inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society. Burnout was not associated with any clinical performance measures. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests the importance of personality traits, particularly conscientiousness, in predicting success during the clinical years of medical school. Medical educators should consider a nuanced examination of personality traits and other non-cognitive factors, particularly for psychiatry.

Association of Intrinsic Motivating Factors and Markers of Physician Well-Being: A National Physician Survey.

BACKGROUND: Although intrinsic motivating factors play important roles in physician well-being and productivity, most studies have focused on extrinsic motivating factors such as salary and work environment. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of intrinsic motivators with physicians' career satisfaction, life satisfaction, and clinical commitment, while accounting for established extrinsic motivators as well. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: A nationally representative survey of 2000 US physicians, fielded October to December 2011. MAIN MEASURES: Outcome variables were five measures of physician well-being: career satisfaction, life satisfaction, high life meaning, commitment to direct patient care, and commitment to clinical practice. Primary explanatory variables were sense of calling, personally rewarding hours per day, meaningful, long-term relationships with patients, and burnout. Multivariate logit models with survey design provided nationally representative individual-level estimates. KEY RESULTS: Among 1289 respondents, 85.8% and 86.5% were satisfied with their career and life, respectively; 88.6% had high life meaning; 54.5% and 79.5% intended to retain time in direct patient care and continue clinical practice, respectively. Sense of calling was strongly positively associated with high life meaning (odds ratio [OR] 5.14, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 2.87-9.19) and commitment to direct patient care (OR 2.50, 95% CI 1.53-4.07). Personally rewarding hours per day were most strongly associated with career satisfaction (OR 5.28, 95% CI 2.72-10.2), life satisfaction (OR 4.46, 95% CI 2.34-8.48), and commitment to clinical practice (OR 3.46, 95% CI 1.87-6.39). Long-term relationships with patients were positively associated with career and life satisfaction and high life meaning. Burnout was strongly negatively associated with all measures of physician well-being. CONCLUSIONS: Intrinsic motivators (e.g., calling) were associated with each measure of physician well-being (satisfaction, meaning, and commitment), but extrinsic motivators (e.g., annual income) were not associated with meaning or commitment. Understanding the effects of intrinsic motivators may help inform efforts to support physician well-being.

Physician Satisfaction in Treating Medically Unexplained Symptoms.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether treating conditions having medically unexplained symptoms is associated with lower physician satisfaction and higher ascribed patient responsibility, and to determine whether higher ascribed patient responsibility is associated with lower physician satisfaction in treating a given condition. METHODS: We surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1504 US primary care physicians. Respondents were asked how responsible patients are for two conditions with more-developed medical explanations (depression and anxiety) and two conditions with less-developed medical explanations (chronic back pain and fibromyalgia), and how much satisfaction they experienced in treating each condition. We used Wald tests to compare mean satisfaction and ascribed patient responsibility between medically explained conditions and medically unexplained conditions. We conducted single-level and multilevel ordinal logistic models to test the relation between ascribed patient responsibility and physician satisfaction. RESULTS: Treating medically unexplained conditions elicited less satisfaction than treating medically explained conditions (Wald P < 0.001). Physicians attribute significantly more patient responsibility to the former (Wald P < 0.005), although the magnitude of the difference is small. Across all four conditions, physicians reported experiencing less satisfaction when treating symptoms that result from choices for which patients are responsible (multilevel odds ratio 0.57, P = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: Physicians experience less satisfaction in treating conditions characterized by medically unexplained conditions and in treating conditions for which they believe the patient is responsible.

Physician Perspectives on Long-Term Relationships and Friendships with Patients: A National Assessment.

OBJECTIVES: Shifts in the healthcare environment have introduced challenges to the long-term continuity of the doctor-patient relationship. This study examines whether certain demographic or religious characteristics of physicians are associated with maintaining long-term relationships (LTRs) and/or friendships with their patients and describes physicians' opinions regarding the influence of such patient relationships on health outcomes. METHODS: In 2011, survey responses were obtained from 1289 US physicians from various specialties. Physicians answered 8 items that assessed their opinions regarding their friendships, sense of meaningfulness, and experience in LTRs. The χ2 test was used to examine bivariate associations between each demographic characteristic and physician responses to the importance of LTRs. The survey included 2 questions about the duration of physician practice and the number of patients seen in a typical week, 4 questions about perceived meaningfulness and friendship in the doctor-patient relationship, and 2 questions about the doctor-patient relationship setting. RESULTS: The adjusted survey response rate was 69% (1289/1863), 43% of physicians indicated that many or most of their patient relationships are LTRs, and 13.7% indicated they consider many or most of their patients to be friends. Just fewer than half of physicians (45.1%) perceive LTRs to have a great impact on clinical outcomes, 64.8% believe that LTRs contribute to patient trust, and 52.2% believe that LTRs are more likely to cause a patient to follow a physician's medical recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents a representative picture of US physicians' perceptions regarding relationships with patients. Physicians generally perceive LTRs to have a positive impact on patients' clinical outcomes, although the majority of physicians report they have few or no such relationships.

Project on the Good Physician: A Proposal for a Moral Intuitionist Model of Virtuous Caring.

THEORY: In the Project on the Good Physician, the authors endeavor to advance medical character education by proposing and testing a moral intuitionist model of virtuous caring that may be applicable to physician training. This model proposes that the moral intuition to care/harm motivates students to extend care to those in need. HYPOTHESES: Hypothesis 1: Medical students will report stronger preferences for the intuition to Care/harm over other moral intuitions in clinical decision making. Hypothesis 2: Care/harm will have the strongest correlation with Generosity than the other moral intuitions. Hypothesis 3: There will be positive associations between Care/harm and the caring virtues (Mindfulness, Empathic Compassion, and Generosity). Hypotheses 4-5: The virtue of Empathic Compassion (or Mindfulness) will moderate the relationship between Care/harm and Generosity. Hypotheses 6-7: Neuroticism (or Burnout) will negatively moderate the association between Care/harm and Generosity (or between Empathic Compassion and Generosity). METHOD: The authors used data from a 2011 nationally representative sample of U.S. medical students (N = 500) to test the relationship between the moral intuition to Care/harm and physician caring virtues. Moral intuitions were assessed using the Moral Foundations Questionnaire, whereas physician virtues were measured using scales adapted from validated constructs. RESULTS: The authors found that students reported stronger preferences for the intuition to Care/harm over the four other moral intuitions. Each moral foundation was weakly but significantly correlated with Generosity, yet Care/harm had the strongest correlation among them. Neuroticism and Burnout did not weaken the link between Care/harm and the virtues. CONCLUSIONS: Data from the descriptive-correlational study reported here offer preliminary support for the construct validity of an educational model that targets the moral intuitions. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of a moral intuitionist approach for medical character education and offers three hypotheses for future empirical research.

Specialty-Based Variation in Applying Maternal-Fetal Surgery Trial Evidence.

INTRODUCTION: The Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS) compared prenatal with postnatal surgery for fetal myelomeningocele (MMC). We sought to understand how subspecialists interpreted the trial results and whether their practice has changed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cross-sectional, mailed survey of 1,200 randomly selected maternal-fetal medicine (MFM) physicians, neonatologists, and pediatric surgeons. RESULTS: Of 1,176 eligible physicians, 670 (57%) responded. Compared to postnatal closure, 33% viewed prenatal closure as "very favorable" and 60% as "somewhat favorable." Most physicians reported being more likely to recommend prenatal surgery (69%), while 28% were less likely to recommend pregnancy termination. In multivariable analysis, neonatologists were more likely to report prenatal closure as "very favorable" (OR 1.6; 95% CI: 1.03-2.5). Pediatric surgeons and neonatologists were more likely to recommend prenatal closure (OR 2.1; 95% CI: 1.3-3.3, and OR 2.9; 95% CI: 1.8-4.6) and less likely to recommend termination (OR 3.8; 95% CI: 2.2-6.7, and OR 4.7; 95% CI: 2.7-8.1). In addition, physicians with a higher tolerance for prematurity were more likely to report prenatal closure as "very favorable" (OR 1.02; 95% CI: 1.00-1.05). DISCUSSION: In light of the MOMS trial, the vast majority of pediatric subspecialists and MFMs view prenatal MMC closure favorably. These attitudes vary by specialty and risk tolerance.

Documenting presence: A descriptive study of chaplain notes in the intensive care unit.

OBJECTIVE: To clarify and record their role in the care of patients, hospital chaplains are increasingly called on to document their work in the medical record. Chaplains' documentation, however, varies widely, even within single institutions. Little has been known, however, about the forms that documentation takes in different settings or about how clinicians interpret chaplain documentation. This study aims to examine how chaplains record their encounters in an intensive care unit (ICU). METHOD: We performed a retrospective chart review of the chaplain notes filed on patients in the adult ICUs at a major academic medical center over a six-month period. We used an iterative process of qualitative textual analysis to code and analyze chaplains' free-text entries for emergent themes. RESULTS: Four primary themes emerged from chaplain documentation. First, chaplains frequently used "code language," such as "compassionate presence," to recapitulate interventions already documented elsewhere in a checklist of ministry interventions. Second, chaplains typically described what they observed rather than interpreting its clinical significance. Third, chaplains indicated passive follow-up plans, waiting for patients or family members to request further interaction. Fourth, chaplains sometimes provided insights into particular relationship dynamics. SIGNIFICANCE OF RESULTS: As members of the patient care team, chaplains access the medical record to communicate clinically relevant information. The present study suggests that recent emphasis on evidence-based practice may be leading chaplains, at least in the medical center we studied, to use a reduced, mechanical language insufficient for illuminating patients' individual stories. We hope that our study will promote further consideration of how chaplain documentation can enhance patient care and convey the unique value that chaplains add to the clinical team.

The Association Between a Sense of Calling and Physician Well-Being: A National Study of Primary Care Physicians and Psychiatrists.

OBJECTIVE: This study assesses the association between calling and physician well-being, clinical commitment, and burnout. METHODS: In 2009-2010, a survey was mailed to 1504 primary care physicians (PCPs) and 512 psychiatrists drawn from the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile. The primary independent variable was a single-item measure that assessed physicians' level of calling. Main outcomes were markers of physician well-being (career satisfaction and morale), clinical commitment (intentions to reduce time spent in direct patient care, leave practice in a few years), and experiences of burnout. RESULTS: Adjusted response rates were 63 % (896/1427) for PCPs and 64 % (312/487) for psychiatrists. Forty-two percent of US PCPs and psychiatrists agree strongly that their practice of medicine is a calling. Physicians with a high sense of calling were less likely than those with low to report regret in choosing medicine as a career (18 vs. 38 %; odds ratio 0.3; 95 % confidence interval, 0.2-0.5), wanting to go into a different clinical specialty (28 vs. 49 %; OR 0.4; 95 % CI, 0.2-0.6), or wanting to leave the practice of medicine in the next few years (14 vs. 25 %, OR 0.4; 95 % CI 0.2-0.7). Physicians with a high sense of calling were less likely to report burnout (17 vs. 31 % low calling, OR 0.4; 95 % CI 0.3 to 0.7). CONCLUSIONS: Physicians who reported that medicine was a calling may be experiencing higher levels of career satisfaction, more durable clinical commitments, and resilience from burnout. Though physicians may differ on their understanding of the concept of calling in medicine, this study highlights an important factor that should be investigated further when assessing long-term workforce retention in the fields of primary care and psychiatry.

Quality of Life and Recommendations for Further Care.

OBJECTIVES: Physician recommendations for further medical treatment or palliative treatment only at the end of life may influence patient decisions. Little is known about the patient characteristics that affect physician-assessed quality of life or how such assessments are related to subsequent recommendations. DESIGN, SETTING, AND SUBJECTS: A 2010 mailed survey of practicing U.S. physicians (1,156/1,878 or 62% of eligible physicians responded). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Measures included an end of life vignette with five experimentally varied patient characteristics: setting, alimentation, pain, cognition, and communication. Physicians rated vignette patient quality of life on a scale from 0 to 100 and indicated whether they would recommend continuing full medical treatment or palliative treatment only. Cognitive deficits and alimentation had the greatest impacts on recommendations for further care, but pain and communication were also significant (all p < 0.001). Physicians who recommended continuing full medical treatment rated quality of life three times higher than those recommending palliative treatment only (40.41 vs 12.19; p < 0.01). Religious physicians were more likely to assess quality of life higher and to recommend full medical treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Physician judgments about quality of life are highly correlated with recommendations for further care. Patients and family members might consider these biases when negotiating medical decisions.

US primary care physicians' opinions about conscientious refusal: a national vignette experiment.

OBJECTIVE: Previous research has found that physicians are divided on whether they are obligated to provide a treatment to which they object and whether they should refer patients in such cases. The present study compares several possible scenarios in which a physician objects to a treatment that a patient requests, in order to better characterise physicians' beliefs about what responses are appropriate. DESIGN: We surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1504 US primary care physicians using an experimentally manipulated vignette in which a patient requests a clinical intervention to which the patient's physician objects. We used multivariate logistic regression models to determine how vignette and respondent characteristics affected respondent's judgements. RESULTS: Among eligible respondents, the response rate was 63% (896/1427). When faced with an objection to providing treatment, referring the patient was the action judged most appropriate (57% indicated it was appropriate), while few physicians thought it appropriate to provide treatment despite one's objection (15%). The most religious physicians were more likely than the least religious physicians to support refusing to accommodate the patient's request (38% vs 22%, OR=1.75; 95% CI 1.06 to 2.86). CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that US physicians believe it is inappropriate to provide an intervention that violates one's personal or professional standards. Referring seems to be physicians' preferred way of responding to requests for interventions to which physicians object.

Whistle-blowing in Medical School: A National Survey on Peer Accountability and Professional Misconduct in Medical Students.

OBJECTIVE: This study examines medical students' attitudes towards peer accountability. METHODS: A nationally representative sample of 564 third year medical students was surveyed. Students reported their agreement or disagreement with two statements: "I feel professionally obligated to report peers whose personal behaviors compromise their professional responsibilities" and "I feel professionally obligated to report peers who I believe are seriously unfit to practice medicine." RESULTS: The majority of students (81.6 %) either agreed strongly or agreed somewhat that they feel obligated to report peers whose personal behaviors compromise their professional responsibilities. The majority (84.1 %) also agreed that they feel professionally obligated to report peers who they believe are seriously unfit to practice medicine. CONCLUSION: In contrast with previous studies, this national study found that a significant majority of students reported that they feel obligated to report unfit peers.

US Physicians' Opinions about Distinctions between Withdrawing and Withholding Life-Sustaining Treatment.

Decisions to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment (LST) precede the majority of ICU deaths. Although professional guidelines generally treat the two as ethically equivalent, evidence suggests withdrawing LST is often more psychologically difficult than withholding it. The aim of the experiment was to investigate whether physicians are more supportive of withholding LST than withdrawing it and to assess how physicians' opinions are shaped by their religious characteristics, specialty, and experience caring for dying patients. In 2010, a survey was mailed to 2016 practicing US physicians. Physicians were asked whether physicians should always comply with a competent patient's request to withdraw LST, whether withdrawing LST is more psychologically difficult than withholding it, and whether withdrawing LST is typically more ethically problematic than withholding it. Of 1880 eligible physicians, 1156 responded to the survey (62%); 93% agreed that physicians should always comply with a competent patient's request to withdraw LST. More than half of the physicians reported that they find withdrawing LST more psychologically difficult than withholding it (61%), and that withdrawing LST is typically more ethically problematic (59%). Physician religiosity was associated with finding withdrawal more ethically problematic, but not with finding it more psychologically difficult. Physicians working in an end-of-life specialty and physicians with more experience caring for dying patients were less likely to endorse either a psychological or an ethical distinction between withdrawing and withholding LST. Most US physicians find withdrawing LST not only more psychologically difficult, but also more ethically problematic than withholding such treatment. Physicians' opinions are to some extent shaped by their religious characteristics, specialty, and levels of experience caring for dying patients.

Relevance of the rationalist-intuitionist debate for ethics and professionalism in medical education.

Despite widespread pedagogical efforts to modify discrete behaviors in developing physicians, the professionalism movement has generally shied away from essential questions such as what virtues characterize the good physician, and how are those virtues formed? Although there is widespread adoption of medical ethics curricula, there is still no consensus about the primary goals of ethics education. Two prevailing perspectives dominate the literature, constituting what is sometimes referred to as the "virtue/skill dichotomy". The first perspective argues that teaching ethics is a means of providing physicians with a skill set for analyzing and resolving ethical dilemmas. The second perspective suggests that teaching ethics is a means of creating virtuous physicians. The authors argue that this debate about medical ethics education mirrors the Rationalist-Intuitionist debate in contemporary moral psychology. In the following essay, the authors sketch the relevance of the Rationalist-Intuitionist debate to medical ethics and professionalism. They then outline a moral intuitionist model of virtuous caring that derives from but also extends the "social intuitionist model" of moral action and virtue. This moral intuitionist model suggests several practical implications specifically for medical character education but also for health science education in general. This approach proposes that character development is best accomplished by tuning-up (activating) moral intuitions, amplifying (intensifying) moral emotions related to intuitions, and strengthening (expanding) intuition-expressive, emotion-related moral virtues, more than by "learning" explicit ethical rules or principles.

Psychiatrists' and primary care physicians' beliefs about overtreatment of depression and anxiety.

Critics say that physicians overdiagnose and overtreat depression and anxiety. We surveyed 1504 primary care physicians (PCPs) and 512 psychiatrists, measuring beliefs about overtreatment of depression and anxiety and predictions of whether persons would benefit from taking medication, investing in relationships, and investing in spiritual life. A total of 63% of PCPs and 64% of psychiatrists responded. Most agreed that physicians too often treat normal sadness as a medical illness (67% of PCPs and 62% of psychiatrists) and too often treat normal worry and stress as a medical illness (59% of PCPs, 55% of psychiatrists). Physicians who agreed were less likely to believe that depressed or anxious people would benefit "a lot" from taking an antidepressant (36% vs. 58% of PCPs) or antianxiety medication (25% vs. 42% of PCPs, 42% vs. 57% of psychiatrists). Most PCPs and psychiatrists believe that physicians too often treat normal sadness and worry as a medical illness.

Physician race and treatment preferences for depression, anxiety, and medically unexplained symptoms.

OBJECTIVES: Studies have repeatedly shown racial and ethnic differences in mental health care. Prior research focused on relationships between patient preferences and ethnicity, with little attention given to the possible relationship between physicians' ethnicity and their treatment recommendations. DESIGN: A questionnaire was mailed to a national sample of US primary care physicians and psychiatrists. It included vignettes of patients presenting with depression, anxiety, and medically unexplained symptoms. Physicians were asked how likely they would be to advise medication, see the patient regularly for counseling, refer to a psychiatrist, or refer to a psychologist or licensed mental health counselor. RESULTS: The response rate was 896 of 1427 (63%) for primary care physicians and 312 of 487 (64%) for psychiatrists. Treatment preferences varied across diagnoses. Compared to whites (referent), black primary care physicians were less likely to use antidepressants (depression vignette), but more likely to see the patient for counseling (all vignettes), and to refer to a psychiatrist (depression vignette). Asian primary care physicians were more likely to see the patient for counseling (anxiety and medically unexplained symptoms vignettes) and to refer to a psychiatrist (depression and anxiety vignettes). Asian psychiatrists were more likely to recommend seeing the patient regularly for counseling (depression vignette). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, these findings suggest that physician race and ethnicity contributes to different patterns of treatment for basic mental health concerns.

Religion, sense of calling, and the practice of medicine: findings from a national survey of primary care physicians and psychiatrists.

OBJECTIVES: A sense of calling is a concept with religious and theological roots; however, it is unclear whether contemporary physicians in the United States still embrace this concept in their practice of medicine. This study assesses the association between religious characteristics and endorsing a sense of calling among practicing primary care physicians (PCPs) and psychiatrists. METHODS: In 2009, we surveyed a stratified random sample of 2016 PCPs and psychiatrists in the United States. Physicians were asked whether they agreed with the statement, "For me, the practice of medicine is a calling." Primary predictors included demographic and self-reported religious characteristics, (eg, attendance, affiliation, importance of religion, intrinsic religiosity) and spirituality. RESULTS: Among eligible respondents, the response rate was 63% (896/1427) for PCPs and 64% (312/487) for psychiatrists. A total of 40% of PCPs and 42% of psychiatrists endorsed a strong sense of calling. PCPs and psychiatrists who were more spiritual and/or religious as assessed by all four measures were more likely to report a strong sense of calling in the practice of medicine. Nearly half of Muslim (46%) and Catholic (45%) PCPs and the majority of evangelical Protestant PCPs (60%) report a strong sense of calling in their practice, and PCPs with these affiliations were more likely to endorse a strong sense of calling than those with no affiliation (26%, bivariate P < 0.001). We found similar trends for psychiatrists. CONCLUSIONS: In this national study of PCPs and psychiatrists, we found that PCPs who considered themselves religious were more likely to report a strong sense of calling in the practice of medicine. Although this cross-sectional study cannot be used to make definitive causal inferences between religion and developing a strong sense of calling, PCPs who considered themselves religious are more likely to embrace the concept of calling in their practice of medicine.