| Balancing certainty and uncertainty in clinical medicine. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 16359598 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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Nothing in clinical medicine is one hundred per cent certain. Part of a doctor's education involves learning how to cope with the anxiety that uncertainty in decisions affecting life and death inevitably produces. This paper examines: (1) the role of anxiety -- both rational and irrational -- in the provision of health care; (2) the effects of uncertainty upon the doctor-patient relationship; (3) the threat uncertainty poses to medical authority (and the assumption of infallibility that props it up); (4) the contribution of clinical uncertainty to the rising popularity of alternative therapies; and (5) the clash between the medical and the legal understanding of how certainty should be defined, particularly as it affects the paediatric community. It concludes by suggesting some strategies that might facilitate successful navigation between the opposing and ever-present forces of certainty and uncertainty. |
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Authors:
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Richard Hayward |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article; Review |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Developmental medicine and child neurology Volume: 48 ISSN: 0012-1622 ISO Abbreviation: Dev Med Child Neurol Publication Date: 2006 Jan |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2005-12-19 Completed Date: 2006-02-15 Revised Date: 2009-11-11 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 0006761 Medline TA: Dev Med Child Neurol Country: England |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 74-7 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust, London, UK. haywar@gosh.nhs.uk |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Anxiety
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psychology* Attitude of Health Personnel* Child Humans Pediatrics / methods* Physician-Patient Relations* |
| Comments/Corrections | |
Erratum In:
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Dev Med Child Neurol. 2006 Mar;48(3):230 |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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