Improving support for doctors in the UK : the development of a modified physician assistant model in primary care and internal medicine

In the United Kingdom, there has been a demand over the last few years to increase the workforce in both primary and secondary care to meet the requirements of the government's ambitious plan for the National Health Service. The NHS plan stated that staffing constraints rather than lack of funding, posed the greatest threat to NHS modernisation. There is a shortage of doctors in the UK. As a result there has been a development of new and extended roles. In this article we wish to describe the development of a new health care worker called the medical care practitioner based on the physician assistant model that is commonly found in the USA.peer-reviewe

Globalization

[Excerpt] While the chapters in the previous section examined employment relations in different national contexts, in this chapter we focus on employment relations in the international or global context. We begin by outlining different perspectives on globalization and examine how globalization has evolved over time. Based on this discussion, we provide a definition of globalization which best accounts for contemporary patterns of global interdependence. We then provide a brief overview of the arguments for and against globalization and discuss the implications that economic globalization presents for employment relations

Unions, Associations and Twenty-First Century Professionals

[Excerpt] Unions that represent professional and technical workers are at a critical juncture in their evolution. On the one hand, there is tremendous opportunity; disproportionate employment growth can be expected for professional and technical occupations in health care, education, science and technology, performing arts, media and communication. On the other hand, there are clear challenges. Professional labor markets and the contemporary workplace are being reconfigured by neoliberal economic policies, technological change, and the spread of contingent employment arrangements. Twenty-first century professional workers will respond positively to unions only if they see organizations that are agile enough to adapt to the workers\u27 own shifting concerns

Impaired carotid viscoelastic properties in women with polycystic ovaries

Background-The purpose of this study was to assess the elastic properties of the carotid arteries in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome, asymptomatic women with polycystic ovaries. and healthy controls.Methods and Results-We recruited the following 60 subjects: 20 symptomatic women with polycystic ovaries attending the reproductive endocrinology clinics, 20 asymptomatic women with polycystic ovaries attending the family planning clinic, and 20 staff volunteers as healthy controls with normal ovaries on transvaginal scan. Compliance and stiffness index were assessed in the common and internal carotid arteries using duplex ultrasound equipped with an echo-locked arterial wall-tracking system. Compliance was significantly lower in the common carotid artery in symptomatic and asymptomatic women with polycystic ovaries than in the controls (10.7, 14.1, and 19.2%mm Hg-1 x 10(-2), respectively). The arterial stiffness index was correspondingly increased (12.3, 10.2, and 6.7, respectively). Similar results were obtained in the internal carotid artery for compliance (10.1. 11.0, and 16.9 %mm Hg-1 x 10(-2), respectively) and stiffness index (14.8, 16.2, and 8.7, respectively).Conclusions-The results of this study provide additional evidence of vascular dysfunction in women with polycystic ovaries and are compatible with the hypothesis that they are at increased risk from coronary artery disease and stroke