METHODS: Focus group discussions with patients attending a family medicine center attached to a tertiary care hospital were carried out using the four gates model of Arabian medical professionalism that is appropriate to Arab culture. Discussions with patients were recorded and transcribed. Data were thematically analyzed using NVivo software.
RESULTS: Three main themes emerged from the data. (1) In dealing with patients, participants expected respect but understood delays in seeing physicians due to their busy schedules. In communication, participants expected to be informed about their health conditions and to have their questions answered. (2) In dealing with tasks, participants expected proper examination and transparency of diagnosis, but some expected the physician to know everything and did not appreciate them seeking outside opinions. They expected to see the same physician at every visit. (3) In physician characteristics preferences, participants preferred friendly smiling physicians. Some cared about the outer appearance of the physician whereas others did not.
DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS: The findings of the study explained only two themes of the four gates model namely dealing with patients and dealing with tasks. Cultural competence and how to benefit from patients' perceptions to be an ideal physician should be incorporated into the process of physicians' training.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: The purpose of this study was to investigate the immunohistochemical expression of SMO in 112 bladder cancer cases and determine their association with demographic and clinicopathological parameters. Bladder cancer tissues were obtained from the Hospital Kuala Lumpur.
RESULTS: SMO was expressed in the cytoplasm of all cases of bladder cancer. 6 cases (5.4%) showed low expression, while 106 cases (94.6%) showed high expression. Positive expression of SMO protein was correlated with a few variables which include grade and stage of tumour, lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis. SMO expression showed statistically significant association with higher grade (p=0.001) and higher stage (p=0.042) of bladder cancer. SMO expression also showed borderline association with lymph node metastasis (p=0.056).
CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that SMO expression may be a poor prognostic marker in bladder cancer.