Keisa Bennett, MD, MPH, Julie Phillips, MD, MPH, and Bridget Teevan, MS
Reasons for the shortage of primary care physicians in regions designated as Health Professional Shortage Areas and steps that medical schools and state and federal policymakers can take to alleviate the shortage.
Erwin C. Wang, MHA, Megan Prior, Jenny M. Van Kirk, Stephen A. Sarmiento, Margaret M. Burke, MS, Christine Oh, MS, Eileen S. Moore, MD, and Stephen Ray Mitchell, MD
Policies and systems are slow to resolve structural disparities in access to insurance coverage and health care, but physicians can act now.
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.
While some argue that live footage of emergency room treatment is beneficial to the general public, the AMA's Code of Medical Ethics states that such taping is a violation of patient privacy and patient confidentiality.
Although there are various rules to the National Residency Match Program, many programs try to avoid the rules and fill residency positions through other avenues.
Lynn P. Freedman, JD, MPH, Rana E. Barar, and Ann M. Drobnik, MPH
Physicians should play a critical role in expanding access to reproductive health choices for women, including the choice to give birth under the care of a midwife.
The financial generosity of the pharmaceutical industry to provide funding for medical education tempts a compromise of professional standards and ethics.
In April 2002, many pharmaceutical companies adopted PhRMA code, an attempt to self-regulate the pharmaceutical industry's marketing to physicians and other health care professionals.