Effect and Durability of an In-depth Training Course on Physician Communication Skills.

Introduction: Effective clinical communication skills are integral to a successful and therapeutic clinician-patient relationship and are associated with improvement in adherence, outcomes, and lower medicolegal risk. However, in stark contrast to other clinical and cognitive skills, practicing physicians generally receive little ongoing training or assessment of individual performance in communication.

Objectives: To assess the effect of an in-depth physician communication course on patients' perception of clinician skill in communication.

The narcotic bowel syndrome: clinical features, pathophysiology, and management.

Narcotic bowel syndrome (NBS) is a subset of opioid bowel dysfunction that is characterized by chronic or frequently recurring abdominal pain that worsens with continued or escalating dosages of narcotics. This syndrome is underrecognized and may be becoming more prevalent. In the United States this may be the result of increases in using narcotics for chronic nonmalignant painful disorders, and the development of maladaptive therapeutic interactions around its use.

Endoscopic anti-reflux devices: a year of challenges and change.

Purpose Of Review: Endoscopic antireflux procedures have generated much interest among clinicians and patients. These devices utilize a variety of methods in an attempt to decrease reflux of gastric contents. This work reviews the most notable results of endoscopic antireflux procedure studies published in 2005.

Practice patterns for long-term follow-up of adult-to-adult right lobectomy donors at US transplantation centers.

Protocols used by transplant centers to care for donors after right hepatectomy for living donor liver transplantation are not well described in the medical literature. Our goal is to describe practice patterns for the long-term follow-up of adult-to-adult right lobectomy donors at US transplantation centers. All adult liver transplantation centers listed with the United Network for Organ Sharing were surveyed between October and November 2002.