[Licensing of activity of medical subunits of military forces and commands of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation]

The purpose of this article is a synthesis and analysis of laws and regulations on the licensing of medical activities, the study of the current state and problems of licensing of medical units and the development of recommendations for medical directors in conducting the work associated with the licensing of medical activities of medical units of military units and formations of the military districts.

Risk management and legal issues with the use of social media in the healthcare setting

Social media have infiltrated all of our lives, both personally and professionally. Most of us could never have envisioned the impact that social media have had on us, particularly in the healthcare arena. Who would have thought even five years ago that a discussion on the ASHRM exchange would involve the use of Twitter in the operating room or that a physician would be reprimanded by a state medical board and have her privileges revoked due to posting information online about a trauma patient? In the coming years, social media use will only increase, causing concern for risk managers across the continuum. Furthermore, although case law and statutory regulations addressing the use of social media are minimal today, it is anticipated that we will see legal challenges to this evolving medium in the future.

Physician boundary violations in a physician's health program: a 19-year review

Managing and treating physicians with professional boundary violations is of paramount importance with vast implications for public safety. Physician Health Programs (PHPs) evaluate and monitor many, if not most, physicians receiving care for these abuses. We conducted a chart review of 120 physicians monitored for boundary violations. We made intergroup and intragroup comparisons (i.e., examining nonpatient, patient nonsexual, and patient sexual offenses). The violator group as a whole differed from the general PHP population, in that more were men between 40 and 49 years of age. More of the violators were mandated for evaluation and reported an abusive history. The rate of psychiatrists exceeded that typically seen by the PHP. Other differences were found according to the type of violation committed. Post hoc analysis revealed that physician-patients with a history of prior boundary violations were more likely to commit violations of a sexual nature. No further incidents were reported for 88 percent of the cohort.

Review of registration requirements for new part-time doctors in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada

INTRODUCTION

By the time medical students graduate many wish to work part-time while accommodating other lifestyle interests.

AIM

To review flexibility of medical registration requirements for provisional registrants in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada.

METHODS

Internet-based review of registration bodies of each country, and each state or province in Australia and Canada, supplemented by emails and phone calls seeking clarification of missing or obscure information.

RESULTS

Data from 20 regions were examined. Many similarities were found between study countries in their approaches to the registration of new doctors, although there are some regional differences. Most regions (65%) have a provisional registration period of one year. Extending this period was possible in 91% of regions. Part-time options were possible in 75% of regions. All regions required trainees to work in approved practice settings.

DISCUSSION

Only the UK provided comprehensive documentation of their requirements in an accessible format and clearly explaining the options for part-time work. Australia appeared to be more flexible than other countries with respect to part- and full-time work requirements. All countries need to examine their registration requirements to introduce more flexibility wherever possible, as a strategy for addressing workforce shortages.

The Thomsonian movement, the regular profession, and the state in antebellum Connecticut: a case study of the repeal of early medical licensing laws

The Thomsonian movement, founded by Samuel Thomson, was the first major challenge to the therapies and the social and economic standing of the orthodox medical profession in the United States. In the late-eighteenth or early-nineteenth century, many states chartered a state medical society with power to administer a licensing law that placed at least a nominal penalty on practicing without a license. However, in the 1830s and 1840s, under pressure by proponents of the Thomsonian system, almost all legislatures reversed themselves and removed all restrictions on medical practice. This paper reexamines the rise and fall of medical licensing using Connecticut as a case study. Antebellum legislative controversies over licensing have never been described in detail at the state level--where the drama took place--integrating the perspectives of both the medical regulars and Thomsonian botanical physicians, and state politics. Connecticut is a particularly useful case study because, except for New York, its seven-year battle from 1836 to 1842 over the medical society's charter was the most protracted in the country. How was the campaign structured? To what extent did the licensing restrictions matter? What role did the state-level Democratic party play? Thomsonianism in Connecticut, I suggest, was more professionalized and conservative than historians have often portrayed this movement. This account shows that the state's Thomsonian physicians were not anti-professional or opposed to education, but rather used the politics of the antebellum era to challenge the medical law and legitimize themselves as an alternative form of practice.