Medical practitioners and their families as patients.
OBJECTIVE
To explore diagnoses, treatment methods, compliance and outcome in a cohort of medical practitioners and their families seen in a private practice setting to identify characteristics of this group.


METHODS
A systematic retrospective case-note review was conducted of all medical practitioners, their partners and children seen in a private practice setting over 15 years, documenting mode of referral, diagnosis, attendances, mode of treatment, and outcome.


RESULTS
Seventy-seven medical families were identified, including 45 doctors, 21 partners and 11 offspring as the primary patient; 38 of the doctor group were self-referred. Doctors and their families were likely to accept treatment guidelines as recommended and to continue until a joint decision was made to terminate.


CONCLUSIONS
Doctors presenting themselves for treatment in a private practice are a highly motivated and compliant group, who make significant changes in therapy. They defy directly the usual findings on "impaired physicians" who may be a different group, the latter generally being referred for psychiatric treatment as "impaired physicians" through statutory bodies such as medical boards. With increasing de-stigmatization and increasing education on the benefits of self-care, doctors may be seeking appropriate early intervention.
Sved Williams
Anne
A
University of Adelaide, and Helen Mayo House, Women's and Children's Hospital, Adelaide, SA, Australia. svedwill@hcn.net.au
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005196:Family Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000523:psychology; D010815:Physician Impairment / Q000523:psychology*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011331:Private Practice; D011613:Psychotherapy; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D011619:Psychotropic Drugs