OBJECTIVETo analyze the influence of knowledge about hypertension and clinical competence among physicians in district and community hospitals on management of hypertensives.

METHODSQuestionnaire investigation was used in 9 district and community hospitals in Chaoyang and Haidian district, including 181 physicians and 204 patients with hypertension.

RESULTS(1) The hospitals involved were divided into two groups according to our evaluation on the knowledge of hypertension and clinical competence of physicians. Four hospitals were graded as high-score group and 5 hospitals as low-score group. (2) There was no significant difference on physicians' evaluation between district and community hospitals. There was higher proportion of hypertensives with instructed physical exercises, reducing salt ingestion, psychological balance and weight reduction in district hospitals than those in community ones. (3) The proportion of hypertensives who were examined with funduscopy, ambulatory pressure and instructed with physical exercises, reducing salt ingestion and weight reduction in high-score group was obviously higher than that in low-score group. The control rates of blood pressure, on the days of examination during lastest check-up or the past three months, were significantly higher in high-score group than in low-score group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONKnowledge of hypertension and clinical management competence among physicians in district and community hospitals did influence the management of hypertension and education of physicians and thus should be increased.

Clinical Competence ; standards ; Delivery of Health Care ; standards ; Directive Counseling ; standards ; Education, Medical ; standards ; Hospitals, Community ; classification ; standards ; Humans ; Hypertension ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Patient Care ; standards ; Physicians ; standards

Delivery of Health Care ; Education, Medical ; standards ; Humans ; Schools, Medical ; standards ; Singapore

Curriculum ; standards ; Delivery of Health Care ; Education, Medical ; Internationality ; Models, Organizational ; Public Health ; education ; Schools, Medical

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a new infectious disease that emerged in mid- November 2002 in Guangdong, southern China. The global pandemic began in late February 2003 in Hong Kong. By the time SARS was declared contained on 5 July 2003 by the World Health Organization (WHO), it had afflicted 8096 patients in 29 countries. No other disease had had such a phenomenal impact on healthcare workers (HCWs), who formed about 21% of SARS patients. In Vietnam, Canada and Singapore, HCWs accounted for 57%, 43% and 41% of SAR patients, respectively. At the beginning of the outbreak, there was practically no information on this disease, which did not even have a name until 16 March 2003, except that it was infectious and could result in potentially fatal respiratory failure. Indeed, HCWs had lost their lives to SARS. Understandably, some HCWs refused to look after SARS patients or even resigned. Initially, much negative publicity was given to such HCWs. It was a very trying time for HCWs as many were also ostracised by the society which they served. They were perceived to be a potential source of infection in the community because of their contact with SARS patients, whom they risked their lives looking after. Subsequently, as we learnt more about the disease and educated the public about the plight of the frontline HCWs, the public gave the frontline HCWs tremendous support and even honoured them as heroes. Being in the medical profession, caring for patients is one of our expected responsibilities. On the other hand, as public citizens, HCWs have the right to resign when they feel that their responsibility to their families should take priority over that to their patients. As a result of this scourge, each HCW learnt to decide if caring for patients is their chosen profession and vocation. Many chose to live up the Hippocratic oath.
Delivery of Health Care ; standards ; Disease Outbreaks ; prevention & control ; Global Health ; Humans ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; epidemiology

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome ; prevention & control ; China ; Delivery of Health Care ; standards ; Health Services ; standards ; Humans ; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ; prevention & control

This road map aims to establish a stable and integrated healthcare system for the Korean Peninsula by improving health conditions and building a foundation for healthcare in North Korea through a series of effective healthcare programs. With a basic time frame extending from the present in stages towards unification, the roadmap is composed of four successive phases. The first and second phases, each expected to last five years, respectively, focus on disease treatment and nutritional treatment. These phases would thereby safeguard the health of the most vulnerable populations in North Korea, while fulfilling the basic health needs of other groups by modernizing existing medical facilities. Based on the gains of the first two phases, the third phase, for ten years, would prepare for unification of the Koreas by promoting the health of all the North Korean people and improving basic infrastructural elements such as health workforce capacity and medical institutions. The fourth phase, assuming that unification will take place, provides fundamental principles and directions for establishing an integrated healthcare system across the Korean Peninsula. We are hoping to increase the consistency of the program and overcome several existing concerns of the current program with this roadmap.
Delivery of Health Care/methods/*organization & administration/standards ; Health Care Sector ; Health Manpower ; Humans ; Nutrition Assessment ; Republic of Korea

This study investigated the German experience in the transition to a unified health care system and suggests the following implications for Korea. First, Germany could have made use of the unification process better if there had been a good road map. Therefore Korea must develop a well prepared road map that considers all possible situations. Second, Germany saw an opportunity for the improvement of the health care system in the early stage of unification but could not take advantage of it because the situation changed dramatically and they had not sufficiently prepared for it. Korea should take into account the opportunity for improvement of the present health care system, such as the roles of public health and traditional medicine. Thirdly, the conditions f North Korea seem to be far worse than those of former East Germany and also worse than even those of other transition countries. Therefore Korea should design a long-term road map taking as many variables into account as possible, including the different rigid way of thinking and the interrelationship among the social sectors. Fourthly, during the German reunification unexpected factors changed the direction of the events. Korea should have a separate plan for the unexpected factors.
Ambulatory Care ; Delivery of Health Care/methods/*organization & administration/standards ; Germany ; Germany, East ; Humans ; Medicine, Traditional ; Public Health ; Republic of Korea

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate outstanding and ordinary persons from personal characteristics using competency as the important criteria, which is the future direction of medical education reform. METHODS: We carried on a behavior event interview about famous doctors of old traditional Chinese medicine, compiled competency dictionary, proceed control prediction test. SPSS and AMOS were used to be data analysis tools on statistics. We adopted the model of peer assessment and contrast to carry out empirical research. RESULTS: This project has carried on exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, established a "5A" competency model which include moral ability, thinking ability, communication ability, learning and practical ability. CONCLUSION Competency model of "excellent doctor" in Chinese medicine has been validated, with good reliability and validity, and embodies the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine personnel training, with theoretical and practical significance for excellence in medicine physician training.
Delivery of Health Care ; standards ; Education, Medical ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Professional Competence ; Reproducibility of Results

Precision medicine became the key strategy in development priority of science and technology in China. The large population-based cohorts become valuable resources in preventing and treating major diseases in the population, which can contribute scientific evidence for personalized treatment and precise prevention. The fundamental question of the achievements above, therefore, is how to construct a large population-based cohort in a standardized way. The Chinese Preventive Medicine Association co-ordinated experienced researchers from Peking University and other well-known institutes to write up two group standards Technical specification of data processing for large population-based cohort study (T/CPMA 001-2018) and Technical specification of data security for large population-based cohort study (T/CPMA 002-2018), on data management. The standards are drafted with principles of emphasizing their scientific, normative, feasible, and generalizable nature. In these two standards, the key principles are proposed, and technical specifications are recommended in data standardization, cleansing, quality control, data integration, data privacy protection, and database security and stability management in large cohort studies. The standards aim to guide the large population-based cohorts that have been or intended to be established in China, including national cohorts, regional population cohorts, and special population cohorts, hence, to improve domestic scientific research level and the international influence, and to support decision-making and practice of disease prevention and control.
China ; Cohort Studies ; Delivery of Health Care ; Humans ; Population Surveillance ; Quality Control ; Reference Standards

PURPOSE: Doctors are asked to play the roles of both a healer and a professional. In dealing with this inherent demand, we should first ask ourselves if we are selecting students who show traits that would enable them to become a good doctor. The primary concern of this study was to identify the core elements of medical professionalism that will develop into professional competence that we should be sought in medical school applicants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One hundred-six responses from the Delphi survey done by medical school professors and 230 completed questionnaires from medical students were used for analysis. We also set out to analyze the level of medical professionalism in newly entering medical students using a 5-point Likert scale. RESULTS: Of the 27 elements of medical professionalism examined, the most important core element was thought to be 'life-long learning skills'. The level of professionalism in Korean medical students was mostly assessed to be less than the 3.0 mean score given by the professors. Medical students tended to rate themselves higher than did the professors for their level of medical professionalism. CONCLUSION: Medical professionalism can be categorized into three domains; professional knowledge, professional skills, and professional attitude. For the prominent differences in the recognition of the levels of professionalism elements in medical students by students and professors, further studies investigating the reasons for discrepancy are needed.
Data Collection ; Delivery of Health Care/standards ; Education, Medical/standards ; Physician's Role ; Professional Competence/standards ; Schools, Medical/*standards ; Students, Medical/*statistics & numerical data