The case of Johnson v Kokemoor illuminates the conflict between patients’ right to informed consent and clinicians’ need to learn through practice, a conflict that possibly could be resolved through greater transparency about clinicians’ experience or experience-dependent medical fees.
Respecting patient autonomy sometimes entails adult patients' making what those in allopathic medicine view as poor decisions, but compassionate patient communication can leave the door open for patients to change their minds.
Adaptive, simulation-based Internet training sites with intelligent agents can offer medical students a virtual clinic for learning about the process and multiple outcomes of patient decision making.
Residency programs should include a system composed of night float teams, wide cross-coverage, and effective communication at the time of patient hand-off in order to maintain an 80-hour work week.
The morbidity and mortality conference serves an important educational role for physicians and underscores the importance of error disclosure in improving patient safety.
A physician argues in favor of moving family residency programs into local ambulatory clinics as a way to strengthen community-based physicians and link practical patient care to academic medical centers.