A Follow-Up Study of Internal Medicine Residents' and Faculty Staff Physicians' Attitudes toward Patients' Characteristics

Abstract

This study assesses the attitudes of internal medicine residents both before and one year after they began their residency, and of staff internists based at the hospitals where these residents rotate. Attitudes toward a broad range of patients' physical, psychological, social, and health-state characteristics were assessed. Results are compared with those obtained by Johnson and Hoffman in their study of medical students' attitudes toward these same characteristics. The results suggest that attitudes towards patient characteristics viewed as hindering communication in the doctor-patient relationship may become more positive as physicians obtain experience and enhance their clinical skills. The results also suggest that much of the research pertaining to medical students' and physicians' attitudes toward geriatric care and chronic illness may not generalize to the population of physicians who specialize in internal medicine.