According to documented studies, patients who have good relationships with their physicians are less likely to file complaints in the event of an adverse medical outcome.

A central question in this issue of Virtual Mentor is whether or not a good patient-physician relationship makes a difference in patient outcomes and satisfaction.

Physicians must ask themselves ethical questions before recommending participation in phase I trials to patients.

Pairing medical students with chronically ill community volunteers for 2 years helps those students gain appreciation for the experience of illness, develop self-reflection and perspective-taking, and learn to communicate with people who may be quite unlike them.

Physicians are responsible for overseeing and collaborating with the expanded health care delivery team.

The growing number of web-savvy patients alters the power dynamic in the patient-physician relationship. In the older model of care, physicians served as unchallenged experts who alone devised therapeutic plans for patients.

Physicians must ask themselves ethical questions before recommending participation in phase I trials to patients.

Putting the interest of patients first means attending to what the patient thinks is most important as well as treating medically significant symptoms and conditions.

The principal therapies for type 2 diabetes and the benefits and possible side effects associated with each.

Caregivers often think that so-called “frequent-flyer” patients are at fault for their poor medical outcomes. In many such cases, though, unaddressed psychosocial issues are the root of the patients’ repeat visits to the emergency department.