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BackgroundCommunication is important for the quality of clinical practice, and programs have been implemented to improve healthcare providers’ communication skills. However, the consistency of programs teaching communication skills has received little attention, and debate exists about the application of acquired skills to real patients. This study inspects whether (1) results from a communication program are replicated with different samples, and (2) results with standardized patients apply to interviews with real patients.MethodsA structured, nine-month communication program was applied in two consecutive years to two different samples of healthcare professionals (25 in the first year, 20 in the second year). Results were assessed at four different points in time, each year, regarding participants’ confidence levels (self-rated), basic communication skills in interviews with standardized patients, and basic communication skills in interviews with real patients. Data were analyzed using GLM Repeated-Measures procedures.ResultsImprovements were statistically significant in both years in all measures except in simulated patients’ assessment of the 2008 group. Differences between the two samples were non-significant. Differences between interviews with standardized and with real patients were also non-significant.ConclusionsThe program’s positive outcomes were replicated in different samples, and acquired skills were successfully applied to real-patient interviews. This reinforces this type of program structure as a valuable training tool, with results translating into real situations. It also adds to the reliability of the assessment instruments employed, though these may need adaptation in the case of real patients.

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Background:Burnout is a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job, and is defined by the three dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism and inefficacy. Resident physicians have intense work demands, limited control and high responsibilities in the workplace, making them more vulnerable to job burnout.Aim:To review studies in the medical literature that address the theme of burnout in residents and discuss relevant resources and interventions for residents with burnout.Methods:MEDLINE and PubMed databases searches for peer-reviewed studies, published between 1990 and 2008, using combinations of the Medline Subject Heading terms professional burnout and internship and residency.Results:The studies report high levels of burnout among residents. The reported residents’ strategies for coping with stress are diverse and include talking with family, significant others or other residents and practicing physical activity. Some studies investigated the role of stress management workshops for residents, reporting decline of emotional exhaustion levels in residents after the workshops.Discussion:The literature on resident burnout is still sparse. The reviewed studies suggest that residents from various specialties, internationally, experience burnout. Understanding resident burnout can be enhanced by more rigorous research, studying different intervention strategies. Burnout prevention and management can contribute to better personal outcomes and ultimately provide better patient care.

Aims of the study:To study Body Mass Index (BMI) and Blood Pressure (BP) in bipolar patients.Methods:Retrospective study in bipolar inpatients of an acute psychiatric Portuguese department during a two years period. Of the 60 bipolar inpatients, 31 were selected. The patients without height or weight data were excluded.Results:The mean age was 48.5 years. 66.7% of the patients were women. The most frequent pharmacological association (13.3%) was sodium valproate and olanzapine. Using INE´s (National Statistic Institute, 2007) criteria, 25.8% of these patients were overweight and 16.13% obese. Approximately 50% of the patients over 45 years were overweight or obese. Approximately 50% of the patients on sodium valproate were overweight or obese, although there was no statistically significant correlation between psychopharmacological treatment and BMI. Only 3.6% of the patients had systolic blood pressure above 140mmHg or diastolic blood pressure above 90mmHg.Conclusions:The studied population has a frequency of overweight superior to the general portuguese population (25.8% vs 18.6%). The percentage of patients with hypertension is inferior comparatively to the general population (3.6% vs 20%). The results of the study show the importance of monitoring and controlling metabolic risk factors in bipolar patients. Attending to the specificities of bipolar patients it is important to study prospectively metabolic syndrome in this population.