What's in a name? Laypeople's understanding of medical roles and titles.
J Hosp Med
; 17(12): 956-960, 2022 12.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36173137
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Physicians regularly use jargon in patient communication, which can lead to confusion and misunderstanding.OBJECTIVE:
To assess the general public's understanding of names and roles of medical specialties and job seniority titles. DESIGNS Volunteer participants completed an electronic survey, filling-in-the-blanks for 14 medical specialties (e.g., "pediatricians are doctors who take care of _____"), and ranked physician titles in order of experience (medical student, intern, senior resident, fellow, attending).SETTING:
The 2021 Minnesota State Fair.PARTICIPANTS:
Volunteers >18 years old without medical or nursing training. MAIN OUTCOME ANDMEASURES:
We summarized responses with descriptive statistics. Two researchers coded open-ended answers as correct, partially correct, or incorrect, with a third researcher for coding discrepancies.RESULTS:
Two hundred and four participants completed the survey (55% female; mean age 43; 67% of respondents with a bachelor's degree or higher). Of 14 medical specialties listed on the survey, respondents most accurately identified dermatologists (94%) and cardiologists (93%). Six specialties were understood by less than half of the respondents neonatologists (48%), pulmonologists (43%), hospitalists (31%), intensivists (29%), internists (21%), and nephrologists (20%). Twelve percent of participants correctly identified medical roles in rank order. Most participants (74%) correctly identified medical students as the least experienced. Senior residents were most often identified as the most experienced (44%), with just 27% of respondents correctly placing the attending there. We conclude that medical professionals should recognize that titles are a common source of misunderstanding among the general public and should describe their role when introducing themselves to minimize confusion.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Médicos
/
Estudiantes de Medicina
/
Medicina
Límite:
Adolescent
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Adult
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Female
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Humans
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Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Hosp Med
Año:
2022
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos