Citation: Rajakumar MK. The family physician in Asia: looking to the 21st century. Family Medicine Education in the Asia-Pacific Region. Core Curriculum for Residency/Vocational Training and Core Content for Specialty Qualifying Examination. The Philippine Academy of Family Medicine, 1993. [Originally published in the Filipino Family Physician in 1993]
Republished in:
1. Republished in: Teng CL, Khoo EM, Ng CJ (editors). Family Medicine, Healthcare and Society: Essays by Dr M K Rajakumar, Second Edition. Kuala Lumpur: Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia, 2019: 40-45
2. An Uncommon Hero. p354-360
This is a prospective study of clinical questions generated in primary care consultations and a comparison of two approaches to answering those clinical questions. Twenty-one doctors in a university-based primary care clinic submitted 78 clinical questions arising from patient consultations during 24 clinic days (0.01 question per patient encounter). These doctors subsequently found answers to 40% of their questions but were satisfied with only 67% of these answers. The investigators were able to provide answers for 95% of the questions asked and the doctors rated these answers as satisfactory in 86% of instances. Answers obtained by investigators had significantly higher satisfaction score than those obtained by doctors' search (p = 0.002). The two main findings of this study are (1) almost all questions arising in clinic setting could be answered by intensive search; (2) answers found by intensive searches were judged to be more satisfactory than those found routinely by doctors. Provision of an information retrieval service in addition to training in the searching and appraisal of medical literature are possible solutions to the information needs of busy clinicians.
Study site: Primary Care Clinic,
University Hospital Kuala Lumpur i
Otitis media is a common disease presenting to family practitioners all over the world. There have been many changes in the way these patients were managed over the years. This article attempts to provide an overview to family physicians regarding the latest approach in managing this common condition. Keywords: Otitis, otitis media, otoscopy, eardrops.
Despite time, mobility, knowledge and other constraints, it is still possible for General Practitioners to play an active role in Palliative Care. This article offers various roles where GP can play. Differences between hospice, palliative medicine, palliative care are discussed. Suggestions are made on where to seek formal or informal education on palliative care. Key Words: role, hospice, palliative medicine, palliative care, illness, sickness
Adolescent pregnancy is associated with long term medical and sociological problems. For intervention, it is important to have information on their profile and obstetric outcome. A study was conducted in 1999 on teenage mothers compared to mothers in the 20-34 year age group. Antenatal records of all these mothers registered in a Malaysian semi-rural Health Clinic in 1998 were reviewed and the relevant information was analysed using descriptive statistics and chi-square for comparison in SPSS 7.5. Only 402 (80.9%) of the 497 antenatal records could be included. There were 40 (9.95%) adolescent pregnancies and 362 (90.05%) pregnancies in mothers aged 20-34 years. Pregnant adolescents were more likely to be Malays (85% versus 66%), unmarried (65% versus 5.5%) and less educated (32.5% versus 12.1%). They have a significantly lower rate of contraceptive usage (2.5% versus 20.2%) and tend to come late for their first antenatal visit (55% versus 18.5%). Their pregnancy complications of anaemia and pregnancy induced hypertension were no worse. But they had a significantly higher preterm delivery rate (37.5% versus 21.8%) and their babies were more likely to have low birth weight (32.5% versus 9.9%). Based on this preliminary finding, further investigations should be carried out and polices should include programmes targeted for this group.
Citation: Low WY, Khoo EM, Tan HM. Sexual Health Problems: Attitudes and Practices of Malaysian General Practitioners. Auckland: Adis International Ltd, 2002