Storylines of family medicine III: core principles-primary care, systems and family

Storylines of Family Medicine is a 12-part series of thematically linked mini-essays with accompanying illustrations that explore the many dimensions of family medicine, as interpreted by individual family physicians and medical educators in the USA and elsewhere around the world. In 'III: core principles-primary care, systems, and family', authors address the following themes: 'Continuity of care-building therapeutic relationships over time', 'Comprehensiveness-combining breadth and depth of scope', 'Coordination of care-managing multiple realities', 'Access to care-intersectional, systemic, and personal', 'Systems theory-a core value in patient-centered care', 'Family-oriented practice-supporting patients' health and well-being', 'Family physician as family member' and 'Family in the exam room'. May readers develop new understandings from these essays.

Storylines of family medicine IV: perspectives on practice-lenses of appreciation

Storylines of Family Medicine is a 12-part series of thematically linked mini-essays with accompanying illustrations that explore the many dimensions of family medicine, as interpreted by individual family physicians and medical educators in the USA and elsewhere around the world. In 'IV: perspectives on practice-lenses of appreciation', authors address the following themes: 'Relational connections in the doctor-patient partnership', 'Feminism and family medicine', 'Positive family medicine', 'Mindful practice', 'The new, old ethics of family medicine', 'Public health, prevention and populations', 'Information mastery in family medicine' and 'Clinical courage.' May readers nurture their curiosity through these essays.

Storylines of family medicine VIII: clinical approaches

Storylines of Family Medicine is a 12-part series of thematically linked mini-essays with accompanying illustrations that explore the many dimensions of family medicine as interpreted by individual family physicians and medical educators in the USA and elsewhere around the world. In 'VIII: clinical approaches', authors address the following themes: 'Evaluation, diagnosis and management I-toward a working diagnosis', 'Evaluation, diagnosis and management II-process steps', 'Interweaving integrative medicine and family medicine', 'Halfway-the art of clinical judgment', 'Seamless integration in family medicine-team-based care', 'Technology-uncovering stories from noise' and 'Caring for patients with multiple long-term conditions'. May readers recognise in these essays the uniqueness of a family medicine approach to care.

Storylines of family medicine VII: family medicine across the lifespan

Storylines of Family Medicine is a 12-part series of thematically linked mini-essays with accompanying illustrations that explore the many dimensions of family medicine as interpreted by individual family physicians and medical educators in the USA and elsewhere around the world. In 'VII: family medicine across the lifespan', authors address the following themes: 'Family medicine maternity care', 'Seeing children as patients brings joy to work', 'Family medicine and the care of adolescents', 'Reproductive healthcare across the lifespan', 'Men's health', 'Care of older adults', and 'Being with dying'. May readers appreciate the range of family medicine in these essays.

Storylines of family medicine V: ways of thinking-honing the therapeutic self

Storylines of Family Medicine is a 12-part series of thematically linked essays with accompanying illustrations that explore the many dimensions of family medicine, as interpreted by individual family physicians and medical educators in the USA and elsewhere around the world. In 'V: ways of thinking-honing the therapeutic self', authors present the following sections: 'Reflective practice in action', 'The doctor as drug-Balint groups', 'Cultivating compassion', 'Towards a humanistic approach to doctoring', 'Intimacy in family medicine', 'The many faces of suffering', 'Transcending suffering' and 'The power of listening to stories.' May readers feel a deeper sense of their own therapeutic agency by reflecting on these essays.

Storylines of family medicine II: foundational building blocks-context, community and health

Storylines of Family Medicine is a 12-part series of thematically linked mini-essays with accompanying illustrations that explore the many dimensions of family medicine, as interpreted by individual family physicians and medical educators in the USA and elsewhere around the world. In 'II: foundational building blocks-context, community and health', authors address the following themes: 'Context-grounding family medicine in time, place and being', 'Recentring community', 'Community-oriented primary care', 'Embeddedness in practice', 'The meaning of health', 'Disease, illness and sickness-core concepts', 'The biopsychosocial model', 'The biopsychosocial approach' and 'Family medicine as social medicine.' May readers grasp new implications for medical education and practice in these essays.

Storylines of family medicine XI: professional identity formation-nurturing one's own story

Storylines of Family Medicine is a 12-part series of thematically linked mini-essays with accompanying illustrations that explore the many dimensions of family medicine, as interpreted by individual family physicians and medical educators in the USA and elsewhere around the world. In 'XI: professional identity formation-nurturing one's own story', authors address the following themes: 'The social construction of professional identity', 'On becoming a family physician', 'What's on the test?-professionalism for family physicians', 'The ugly doc-ling', 'Teachers-the essence of who we are', 'Family medicine research-it starts in the clinic', 'Socially accountability in medical education', 'Personal philosophy and how to find it' and 'Teaching and learning with Storylines of Family Medicine'. May these essays encourage readers to find their own creative spark in medicine.

Storylines of family medicine IX: people and places-diverse populations and locations of care

Storylines of Family Medicine is a 12-part series of thematically linked mini-essays with accompanying illustrations that explore the many dimensions of family medicine as interpreted by individual family physicians and medical educators in the USA and elsewhere around the world. In 'IX: people and places-diverse populations and locations of care', authors address the following themes: 'LGBTQIA+health in family medicine', 'A family medicine approach to substance use disorders', 'Shameless medicine for people experiencing homelessness', '''Difficult" encounters-finding the person behind the patient', 'Attending to patients with medically unexplained symptoms', 'Making house calls and home visits', 'Family physicians in the procedure room', 'Robust rural family medicine' and 'Full-spectrum family medicine'. May readers appreciate the breadth of family medicine in these essays.

Storylines of family medicine VI: ways of being-in the office with patients

Storylines of Family Medicine is a 12-part series of thematically linked mini-essays with accompanying illustrations that explore the many dimensions of family medicine, as interpreted by individual family physicians and medical educators in the USA and elsewhere around the world. In 'VI: ways of being-in the office with patients', authors address the following themes: 'Patient-centred care-cultivating deep listening skills', 'Doctor as witness', 'Words matter', 'Understanding others-metaphor and its use in medicine', 'Communicating with patients-making good use of time', 'The patient-centred medical home-aspirations for the future', 'Routine, ceremony or drama?' and 'The life course'. May readers better appreciate the nuances of patient care through these essays.

Storylines of family medicine XII: family medicine and the healthcare system

Storylines of Family Medicine is a 12-part series of thematically linked mini-essays with accompanying illustrations that explore the many dimensions of family medicine, as interpreted by individual family physicians and medical educators in the USA and elsewhere around the world. In 'XII: Family medicine and the future of the healthcare system', authors address the following themes: 'Leadership in family medicine', 'Becoming an academic family physician', 'Advocare-our call to act', 'The paradox of primary care and three simple rules', 'The quadruple aim-melding the patient and the health system', 'Fit-for-purpose medical workforce', 'Universal healthcare-coverage for all', 'The futures of family medicine' and 'The 100th essay.' May readers of these essays feel empowered to be part of family medicine's exciting future.

Storylines of family medicine X: standing up for diversity, equity and inclusion

Storylines of Family Medicine is a 12-part series of thematically linked mini-essays with accompanying illustrations that explore the many dimensions of family medicine as interpreted by individual family physicians and medical educators in the USA and elsewhere around the world. In 'X: standing up for diversity, equity and inclusion', authors address the following themes: 'The power of diversity-why inclusivity is essential to equity in healthcare', 'Medical education for whom?', 'Growing a diverse and inclusive workforce', 'Therapeutic judo-an inclusive approach to patient care', 'Global family medicine-seeing the world "upside down"', 'The inverse care law', 'Social determinants of health as a lens for care', 'Why family physicians should care about human rights' and 'Toward health equity-the opportunome'. May the essays that follow inspire readers to promote change.

Storylines of family medicine I: framing family medicine - history, values and perspectives

Storylines of Family Medicine is a 12-part series of thematically linked mini-essays with accompanying illustrations that explore the many dimensions of family medicine, as interpreted by individual family physicians and medical educators in the USA and elsewhere around the world. In 'I: framing family medicine-history, values, and perspectives', the authors address the following themes: 'Notes on Storylines of Family Medicine', 'Family medicine-the generalist specialty', 'Family medicine's achievements-a glass half full assessment', 'Family medicine's next 50 years-toward filling our glasses', 'Four enduring truths of family medicine', 'Names matter', 'Family medicine at its core' and 'The ecology of medical care.' May readers find much food for thought in these essays.

Personalizing the BioPsychoSocial Approach: "Add-Ons" and "Add-Ins" in Generalist Practice

Generalist practitioners often find interacting with patients deeply satisfying and joyful; they also experience encounters that are challenging and complex. In both cases, they must be aware of the many issues that affect the processes and outcomes of patient care. Although using the BioPsychoSocial approach is an important, time-tested framework for cultivating one's awareness of patients' presenting concerns, recent developments suggest that additional frames of reference may enhance communication and relationships with patients. In this article, we describe several additions to the BioPsychoSocial approach, considerations we call "add-ons" and "add-ins". We invite generalist practitioners and, indeed, all health care practitioners, to consider how they can improve their ongoing care of patients by personalizing these and other additions in their day-to-day work with patients.

Rethinking Goals: Transforming Short-Term Global Health Experiences Into Engagements

The authors challenge the conventional wisdom guiding what participants in short-term experiences in global health (STEGHs) should be learning. Medical students and residents from the United States have been told to focus on standardized competencies and ethical principles, in addition to the biomedical knowledge, skills, and attitudes highlighted by working internationally. The authors suggest that although these training goals are important, they may divert learners from developing their professional identities in ways that contribute to the health of all persons, especially those who are economically poor and socially marginalized. The authors postulate that such a professional transformation will occur only if STEGH participants attend to 5 key learning goals: develop contextual inquisitiveness, grow in insightful understanding, nurture global humility, cultivate structural awareness, and critically engage in the pursuit of creating equitable and just societies. Further, the authors argue that only by attending to these goals will any genuine change in the root causes of inequities in health outcomes occur. The authors review these goals and encourage their use for professional and pedagogical purposes over the duration of any STEGH-before departure, while in host communities, and upon return home.

Facilitating Critical Self-Exploration by Global Health Students

Much has been written about the need for participants on global health service-learning experiences to contemplate ethical features of their involvement. This literature tends to neglect the role of self-interest in global engagement, however. This article explores how awareness of one's own interests is critical to successfully engaging in global health experiences and proposes how US-based health professions students and trainees can practice critical self-exploration. Six themes beginning with the letter I (identity, ideology, ignorance, imagination, intention, and investment) are introduced as guides to nourish conscientious, collaborative global health learning and practice.

Looking Within: Intentions of Practice for Person-Centered Care

In order to integrate the biological, psychological, social, and existential dimensions of care into my day-to-day clinical encounters with patients, I have worked to cultivate several intentions of practice. These intentions of practice-habits of mind that nurture my resolve to attend to patients as complex human beings- help me navigate my interactions with patients and families in ways that are simultaneously efficacious and therapeutic. When routinely recalled and adeptly implemented, they are what distinguish me as a competent and capable practitioner of person-centered care, when I am at my best, from when I am not. I present them here in hopes that others may find them useful as they progress down their ongoing paths as healing physicians.

Voices From Family Medicine: On Becoming a Family Physician

In this essay-part memoir, part reflection, and part oral history-I review my early professional development, a several years' long progression after residency training, during which I grew from functioning as a technically competent primary care doctor to being a capable and compassionate family physician. As part of that development, and with my colleague John Frey, MD, I interviewed several of the founders of the modern family medicine movement. Here I review some of their answers to the fundamental question of my early practice years: What does it mean to be a family physician? I cite some of their words of wisdom, those of particular import for me, and discuss how these words both helped me become a family physician and ring true even today as we approach the 50th anniversary of the founding of family medicine. I conclude by inviting other clinicians and educators in family medicine, those starting out in the field as well as those well on their way, to consider how their personal histories can help inform their involvement in the future of the discipline, especially in light of the ongoing Family Medicine for America's Health initiative. An educational mini-documentary accompanies this article and can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/198742471.

Electronic health records: Context matters!

Comments on the article by Kotay, Huang, Jordan, and Korin (see record 2016-22430-001). They tackle how to document patients' social histories in a way that is useful in real-time clinical practice-and explore the implementation of a new electronic health record (EHR) template specifically built to support their residency practice's commitment to addressing the social dimensions of patients' lives. For all of us convinced that the simultaneous integration of the biological, social, psychological, and existential dimensions of care is key to the practice of primary care, there are many questions to explore in relation to using EHRs. How are we going to do this in an environment that preferentially supports particularized data over an engaged awareness of context? How are we going to convince those with the technological expertise and administrative power that the transmission of information alone is not a substitute for insight, meaning, and relationships (Ventres & Frankel, 2010)? And ultimately, how are we going to make sure the EHR works for us instead of against us? Kotay and her colleagues have not answered all these questions in their study-such a task is beyond the abilities of one person or group of researchers- but along with others they have begun to illuminate a way forward (Cifuentes et al., 2015; Glowa-Kollisch et al., 2014). May we all now strive to continue the work that these authors have started. (PsycINFO Database Record

Building Power Between Polarities: On the Space-in-Between

In this article, I introduce the concept of the space-in-between. This space-in-between is born of the realization that, between the expression of any two polarities (across dimensions such as emotion, thought, geography, and ideology), there exists a philosophical construct useful for framing thinking about practice, research, and managerial relationships in the health professions. Out of this construct emerge practical considerations useful for structuring the conduct of meaningful interpersonal and intercultural interactions. I describe how the idea of a space-in-between developed out of my medical practice, grew as a result of my experiences in international environments. and has found fulfillment in my ongoing work. I explore the application of a space-in-between in public health, medical anthropology, medical ethics, and global health. I review how, as a result of incorporating this space in their daily work, clinicians, educators, researchers, and managers can grow as leaders by sharing the presence that arises from the space-in-between them and the people in the communities they serve.

Healing

My personal ethos of healing is an expression of the belief that I can and do act to heal patients while I attend to the traditional goals of medicine. The 7 supporting principles that inform my ethos are dignity, authenticity, integrity, transparency, solidarity, generosity, and resiliency. I invite others, including medical students, residents, and practicing physicians, to reflect and discover their own ethos of healing and the principles that guide their professional growth. A short digital documentary accompanies this essay for use as a reflective prompt to encourage personal and professional development.

Beyond ethical and curricular guidelines in global health: attitudinal development on international service-learning trips

BACKGROUND

Health professionals from high-income countries are increasingly becoming involved in international service-learning trips in low and low/middle-income countries. While much has been written about the ethics and curricular guidelines related to such endeavors, scant attention has been paid to the attitudes with which trainees and clinicians enter into or return from them. In this essay the authors explore how attitudes contribute to the success or failure of international service-learning trips.

DISCUSSION

The authors submit that the attitudes with which visiting health professionals approach international service-learning trips are much more critical to the success of these experiences than their demonstrated knowledge base or specialized skill sets. They list five attitudes that can aid those participating in international service-learning trips. They list five troubling attitudes that, while common, those participating in international service-learning trips can learn to recognize and avoid. They suggest five strategies key to learning respectful attitudes that can foster success in such cross-cultural activities. Lastly, the authors review several concepts related to attitude development in short or long-term global health work.

SUMMARY

The attitudes with which visiting health professionals approach international service-learning activities can be important components of the success or failure of the experiences. Through thoughtful consideration of attitudes and approaches, participants on such trips can build a framework for rich and rewarding experiences in global medicine and global health.

The Q-List manifesto: how to get things right in generalist medical practice

Checklists have become popular in medical practice since the publication of surgeon Atul Gawande's book, The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. Based on his 26 years of practice as a family physician and informed by scholarly works from other professional disciplines, the author suggests that although checklists are helpful for promoting habitual reflection, they are limited in scope and meaning, and more suited for procedural undertakings than the bio-psycho-social-existential orientation of generalist practice. The author reviews the characteristics of generalist practice and suggests that clinicians develop a list of questions to help them recall and examine concepts key to the exploration and management of routine and challenging situations with patients. He proposes his own Question-List, or Q-List, and recommends its adaptation for use as a manifesto to the rich and engaging work of generalist medicine.

Patient-centered care and electronic health records: it's still about the relationship

Two of the most important developments in ambulatory practice over the past 20 years are the advent of patient and relationship-centered care (PRCC) and electronic health records (EHRs). However, there is a large gap in knowledge and practice between PRCC and EHR use. We believe the integration of PRCC with EHRs has the potential to personalize care, improve population-based care, and increase patient involvement. To accomplish this, advanced practitioners from both computer- and communication-centric disciplines must work together to establish systems that work synergistically. Research examining how outstanding clinicians use EHRs is essential to establish best practice models of use. As well, clinicians must examine how they use EHRs in their communication with patients, become aware of when the EHR hinders the human connection and when it enhances it, and develop a repertoire for using it simultaneously with PRCC.

Ethnography: a stepwise approach for primary care researchers

Ethnography is a research method borrowed from cultural anthropology and a disciplined method for understanding human conduct. It is a valid alternative to quantitative methods for primary care researchers. This article reviews the defining principles of ethnographic research, which uses principally observational methods to study actions and events that exist in natural situations. It is the job of ethnographic researchers to establish and frame their observations from the point of view of the people under observation. We present five steps fundamental to the development of an ethnographic research plan and a research case study that demonstrates the use of ethnography by a family physician.

Teaching (and learning) family medicine internationally: a cultural survival guide

Around the world, family medicine is emerging as an important model for the delivery of primary health care services. Clinician-educators from countries with successful family medicine programmes will be looked to for leadership in the international development of the specialty. Family medicine educators who are asked to teach internationally will face numerous challenges as they work to adapt their knowledge and expertise to fit local needs. These challenges can become either insurmountable obstacles or enriching experiences. The purpose of this article is to help guide educators as they explore, enter into and return from teaching family medicine abroad. It offers practical suggestions in response to three questions important in the course of work abroad: What are one's expectations for working abroad? What will one's attitude be toward daily work overseas? What will one have learned upon returning home? The suggestions can be used to enhance personal and professional development, promote common pathways in the development of family medicine as a specialty, and encourage bilateral exchange of knowledge and experiences among family physicians worldwide.

Introducing a procedure using videotape instruction: the case of the lateral birth position

BACKGROUND

Videotapes have been variably successful in teaching physical examination skills, interviewing strategies, and clinically relevant didactic material to medical students, residents, and physicians. The literature does not include evaluations of their success in introducing procedural techniques into clinical practice.

OBJECTIVES

This study assessed whether the presentation of an instructional videotape influenced the adoption of a specific technique, assisting birth in the lateral position.

METHODS

Family practice residents, faculty, and physicians participated in educational presentations that reviewed how to assist childbirth in the lateral position. Three different formats were used for the presentations; an instructional videotape formed the core element of each presentation. Immediately following the presentations, and on one other occasion 4-6 months later, the participating physicians received questionnaires surveying their use of the lateral birth position.

RESULTS

Approximately 30% of the respondents who had not previously used the position used the lateral birth technique. Of the remaining respondents who had not used the technique, 64% considered using the technique with their laboring patients. Physicians who viewed the videotape in concert with other educational interventions were more likely to have adopted the new birth technique (P = .03).

CONCLUSIONS

An instructional videotape, as part of a structured, interactive presentation, can be used successfully to introduce a procedure into the clinical practices of family physicians.

Hearing the patient's story: exploring physician-patient communication using narrative case reports

OBJECTIVE

This study employs narrative case reports to explore clinicians' interpretations of patients' words and behaviors. The purpose of this study is to investigate hospitalized patients' perspectives on medical issues and how these differ from their physicians' perspectives.

METHODS

Residents identified 19 hospitalized patients over a two-year period with whom they had problems communicating. These residents described the reasons they believed the problems existed and then they questioned the patients about their illness experiences, using an open-ended interview style. Interviewers shared interpretations about the interview and patient behavior. Data were recorded in journal form.

RESULTS

Common to each of the cases were misunderstandings between physicians and patients. The primary concerns of the residents (why they thought patients' behaviors were problematic) differed from the corresponding interpreted understandings of the patients' behaviors. Two case reports illustrate these observations.

CONCLUSION

This study illustrates how narrative case reports can facilitate the recognition of themes in physician-patient communication that refer to the psychological and social realms of sickness. Such an approach can help identify misperceptions between physicians and patients. Clinicians, educators, and researchers can use this approach, respectively, to improve relationships with patients, to enrich student and resident understandings of communication issues, and to develop new forums for sharing qualitative aspects of physician-patient communication.

Communicating about resuscitation: problems and prospects

BACKGROUND

The Patient Self-Determination Act of 1991 implicitly encourages physicians to discuss advance directives and no-code orders with their patients. The medical literature to date, however, has done little to place resuscitative decision making in the context of how physicians, patients, and families communicate with one another. This paper investigates how interactions between involved parties affect the process and outcome of this decision making.

METHODS

Participant observation and open-ended interviews were conducted with patients, their families, resident physicians, and family medicine faculty members.

RESULTS

This report describes three social and cultural issues that commonly influence and shape the process of do-not-resuscitate decision making: judging competency and capacity, dealing with uncertainty, and recognizing attitudes toward death.

CONCLUSIONS

Improved understanding of the communicative process can facilitate the establishment of meaningful, therapeutic alliances between physicians, patients, and families at an influential juncture in the family life cycle.