Sex role ideology among physicians.

Physicians have been accused by some feminist writers of having traditional views on sex roles that make them part of society''s oppressive power structure and therefore responsible in part for the high incidence of psychologic problems and drug dependency among women. To assess whether physicians'' attitudes towards women are indeed polarized in a traditional fashion, a sex role ideology questionnaire was given to all practising physicians belonging to the Manitoba Medical Association. Overall the physicians were found to be more feminist than male college students and a group of women with traditional beliefs. Psychiatrists, who had the highest adjusted group mean score on a sex role ideology scale (high indicating feminist beliefs), were found to be significantly more feminist than family practitioners, surgeons, and obstetricians and gynecologists, although not more so than internists, radiologists, pediatricians and anesthesiologists. These findings do not support the assumption that physicians have traditional views that reflect those of society. However, the significant differences between specialties emphasize the need for educating physicians and medical students in the behaviour of women.     

Drug addiction among Quebec physicians.

Data collected by the Quebec Board of Physicians show that during the 5 years from 1974 to 1978 the prevalence of addiction to opiates among Quebec physicians was 2.8/1000. The physician addicts had greater mobility and a higher attrition rate than their peers. The typical addict was male, a general practitioner and married. He often suffered from pain, fatigue, overwork, and financial and marital difficulties. His addiction had begun at approximately 35 years of age and had become evident about 3 1/2 years later. Meperidine was the preferred opiate. Some of the physicians lost their licences to practise for variable periods of time; for these the prognosis was gloomy. Depression was the main psychiatric disorder diagnosed.     

Career choices of physicians 15 years after entering medical school.

The career status of 149 graduates of the University of Toronto faculty of medicine who entered in 1958 and graduated in 1962 was determined in 1973. The response rate to the mailed questionnaire was 96.6%. Of the graduates 4.7% were not practising medicine, 2.0% stated that medicine was not their primary gainful activity and 4.1% were untraceable or unknown. Of the 24 women in the class 17 (70.8%) were practising at least 76% of their time and 4 (16.7%) were practising 26 to 75% of their time. General practice or family medicine had been chosen by 39.0% of the class and a specialty by 55.7%; 5.4% were unknown or untraceable. The place of longest residence before entrance to university was a good predictor of ultimate location of practice but not of type of practice.     

AIDS awareness among rural Utah physicians.

Studies of physicians'' attitudes and knowledge of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and the clinical precautions they take against exposure to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have focused on urban physicians. To determine rural physicians'' knowledge and attitudes about AIDS, a questionnaire was mailed to 321 physicians practicing in rural Utah. Of the 169 physicians who completed questionnaires, 96% thought that their community or area of service had only a minor or no problem with AIDS; 89%, however, thought that their chance of seeing a patient who was HIV-positive was fair to moderate. Of the 169 respondents, 3% were not sure whether they would even treat a patient who had AIDS, 67% said they would, and 30% said they would not. Although all physicians are at risk of seeing a patient who has had exposure to HIV and other blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis B, only 55% of the respondents felt a need to take clinical precautions to prevent their exposure to the virus. Our study shows the need for all rural Utah physicians to reevaluate their risk of exposure to HIV, to increase precautionary measures for their own protection, to consider the ethical responsibility of treating AIDS patients, and to take a more active role in teaching their patients how to protect themselves from exposure to the virus.     

Starvation, staphylococcosis, and vitamin A deficiency among mallards overwintering in Saskatchewan.

During January to March 1991, 38 mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) found dead from a group of approximately 600 overwintering on the South Saskatchewan River were examined. Thirty birds died from starvation, four had disseminated Staphylococcus aureus infection, and the cause of death of four birds was not determined. All six birds from which the esophagus was examined microscopically, including the four birds with staphylococcosis, had squamous metaplasia of the submucosal glands, a lesion pathognomonic for vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A deficiency may occur in mallards and other waterfowl that overwinter north of traditional wintering areas and rely on grains deficient in carotenoids.