Does specialty training prepare doctors for senior roles? A questionnaire study of new UK consultants.

Aim: To measure new consultants' perceptions of their preparedness for different clinical and non-clinical aspects of the role of consultant.

Design: A cross-specialty questionnaire was developed and validated, containing items asking how well specialty training had prepared respondents for the role of consultant in a number of clinical and non-clinical areas. Responses were on a five-point Likert scale with a 'Not relevant/no opinion' box, and one free text section.

Improving patient-centered care for people with dementia in medical encounters: an educational intervention for old age psychiatrists.

Background: Health care professionals are recommended to deliver patient-centered care in dementia; however, guidance and training on how to do this in practice is currently lacking. The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate pragmatically an educational intervention for old age psychiatrists to promote patient-centered care in their consultations with people with dementia and their carers.

Methods: We used a range of methods to (i) identify the theoretical components of patient-centered care (literature review) and (ii) observe actual practice (video recording of 53 consultations between old age psychiatrists and people with dementia and their family carers).

Diagnosing Aspergers syndrome in the elderly: a series of case presentations.

Background: There are over 200,000 people in the UK diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome (AS). Most of these are children and young adults, owing to the fact the disorder was established relatively recently. It can be argued, therefore, that there are many older adults who may have met the criteria for AS as children, but never received such a diagnosis due to the fact it had yet to be established.

EEG findings in dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer's disease.

Objectives: To evaluate the role of the EEG in the diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).

Methods: Standard EEG recordings from 14 patients with DLB confirmed at postmortem were examined and were compared with the records from 11 patients with Alzheimer's disease confirmed at postmortem

Results: Seventeen of the total of 19 records from the patients with DLB were abnormal. Thirteen showed loss of alpha activity as the dominant rhythm and half had slow wave transient activity in the temporal lobe areas.