Interprofessional communication with hospitalist and consultant physicians in general internal medicine : a qualitative study

This study helps to improve our understanding of the collaborative environment in GIM, comparing the communication styles and strategies of hospitalist and consultant physicians, as well as the experiences of providers working with them. The implications of this research are globally important for understanding how to create opportunities for physicians and their colleagues to meaningfully and consistently participate in interprofessional communication which has been shown to improve patient, provider, and organizational outcomes

Why did the proton cross the road? Humour and science communication

The use of humour in public discourse about science has grown remarkably over the past few years, and when used in science communication activities is being seen as a great way of bringing science to the public through laughter. However, barely any research has been published yet either on the often assumed beneficial learning effects of humour in informal science education, nor the wider social functions and effects of humour about science and how humorous public discourse about science can influence the public understanding of science and the science – society relationship. This research note reviews some of the literature on the psychology and sociology of humour and comedy and tries to apply some of its insights onto what effects humour might have when used in science communication. Although not intended to be anti-humour, this note attempts at least to start a more critical conversation on the value of humour in the communication of science

Ethics takes time, but not that long

© 2007 Hansson et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens