Acting as standardized patients enhances family medicine residents' self-reported skills in palliative care.

Recent publications have confirmed the use of standardized patients (SPs) in improving clinical skills and enhancing competency. Little research has studied the benefits residents may themselves gain in palliative care playing the role of SPs. Nineteen Family Medicine residents were recruited as standardized patients (FMR-SPs) for a mandatory palliative care workshop in communication for incoming, first-year trainees.

Situational analysis of palliative care education in thai medical schools.

Objective: The Thai Medical School Palliative Care Network conducted this study to establish the current state of palliative care education in Thai medical schools.

Methods: A questionnaire survey was given to 2 groups that included final year medical students and instructors in 16 Thai medical schools. The questionnaire covered 4 areas related to palliative care education.

Aspirin, steroidal and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. The incidence of AD rises exponentially with age and its prevalence will increase significantly worldwide in the next few decades. Inflammatory processes have been suspected in the pathogenesis of the disease.

Reliability and validity of a Thai version of the edmonton symptom assessment scale (ESAS-Thai).

Context: The Edmonton Symptom Assessment Scale (ESAS), created by the Edmonton Group in 1991, is an instrument assessing symptom control that is commonly used in palliative care. It asks patients to rate nine items on 11-point numeric rating scales.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to translate the ESAS to Thai and validate its final version with transcultural adaptation for Thai palliative care patients.

Patients' experience of oxygen therapy and dyspnea: a qualitative study in home palliative care.

Background: Dyspnea is a common and distressing symptom in advanced cancer patients. Our preliminary work shows that in the home palliative care population sampled for this study, the prevalence of dyspnea is 29.5% and of those, 26.

Does Family Medicine training in Thailand affect patient satisfaction with primary care doctors?

Background: Recent national healthcare reforms in Thailand aim to transfer primary care to family physicians, away from more expensive specialists. As Family Medicine has yet to be established as a separate discipline in Thailand, newly trained family physicians work alongside untrained general doctors in primary care. While it has been shown that Family Medicine training programs in Thailand can increase the quality of referrals from primary care doctors to specialists, information is lacking about whether such training affects the quality of patient care.

Reliability and validity of a Thai version of the General Practice Assessment Questionnaire (GPAQ).

Background: The Assessment Questionnaire (GPAQ) is a questionnaire for patients to evaluate primary care in a number of key areas ranging from the access to care, the helpfulness of receptionists, the continuity of care, the doctors'communication skills, the patient's knowledge of self the General Practice care plans after consultation, and overall satisfaction. All questions can be calculated as a GPAQ score allowing services to be analysed, developed, and improved.

Objective: The General Practice Assessment Questionnaire (GPAQ) was developed in the United Kingdom to evaluate the quality of general practice (i.