[The new family physician in the clinic].
The content of all consultations of a family physician during the first 2 months in a new practice and again in the same 2 months, 2 years later were analyzed. The workload did not change between the 2 periods, but in the first period there were relatively more men over the age of 60 years, and a more marked predominance of women in the 45-59 year age-group. There were more follow-ups of pre-existing conditions during the first period, but in both periods the main reason for visits was an acute condition; a quarter of visits required only simple counseling without further investigation or prescribing of medication. During the first period 9% of visits were for the explicit purpose of getting to know the new physician, usually by women. Thus the initial period in a new practice is not excessively burdensome, but involves seeing a number of patients who come either simply to get to know the new doctor, or to present non-chronic problems without expectation of further investigation.
Kitai
E
E
Dept. of Family Medicine, Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tikva.
Sandiuk
A
A
Weingarten
M
M
Vinker
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010821:Physicians, Family