Are Dutch patients willing to be seen by a physician assistant instead of a medical doctor?

Background The employment of physician assistants (PAs) is a strategy to improve access to care. Since the new millennium, a handful of countries have turned to PAs as a means to bridge the growing gap between the supply and demand of medical services. However, little is known about this new workforce entity from the patient’s perspective. The objective of this study was to assess the willingness of Dutch patients to be treated by a PA or a medical doctor (MD) under various time constraints and semi-urgent medical scenarios. Methods A total of 450 Dutch adults were recruited to act as surrogate patients. A convenience sample was drawn from patients in a medical office waiting room in a general hospital awaiting their appointments. Each participant was screened to be naive as to what a PA and a nurse practitioner are and then read a definition of a PA and an MD. One of three medical scenarios was assigned to the participants in a patterned 1-2-3 strategy. Patients were required to make a trade-off decision of being seen after 1 hour by a PA or after 4 hours by a doctor. This forced-choice method continued with the same patient two more times with 30 minutes and 4 hours and another one of 2 hours versus 4 hours for the PA and MD, respectively. Results Surrogate patients chose the PA over the MD 96 % to 98 % of the time (depending on the scenario). No differences emerged when analysed by gender, age, or parenthood status. Conclusion Willingness to be seen by a PA was tested a priori to determine whether surrogate Dutch patients would welcome this new health-care provider. The findings suggest that employing PAs, at least in concept, may be an acceptable strategy for improving access to care with this population

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Southeast Asian Sharī‘ahs

<p>The Southeast Asian materials show that the <em>sharī‘ah</em>’s providing various pathways (through time and place) for individual Muslims to follow when doing their duty to God, which is fidelity to Revealed Truth. There are many paths and it is pointless to insist upon an historical ‘purist’ mono-legacy, however attractive this might appear theoretically. The realities of life (economics, social structure, alternative philosophies, and so on) dictate otherwise. Local <em>sharī‘ah</em>s adapt realities to Revelation irrespective of whether sources of legislation or forms of government are Muslim or non-Muslim this was never an issue in Southeast Asia. The localized <em>sharī‘ah</em>s were achieved via an acceptance of legal pluralism and hybridization of laws. The result is that Revealed obligations are phrased in local terms, change over time is allowed for, and the end result is a truly original and unique set of ‘Southeast Asian’<em> sharī‘ah</em>s.</p><p>Copyright (c) 2014 by SDI. All right reserved.</p><p><strong>DOI: <span><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.15408/sdi.v20i2.387">10.15408/sdi.v20i2.387</a></span></strong></p

Adat law in modern Indonesia

153 hal.: 21 cm.; Index; Bibliography

Southeast Asian Sharī‘ahs

The Southeast Asian materials show that the sharī‘ah’s providing various pathways (through time and place) for individual Muslims to follow when doing their duty to God, which is fidelity to Revealed Truth. There are many paths and it is pointless to insist upon an historical ‘purist’ mono-legacy, however attractive this might appear theoretically. The realities of life (economics, social structure, alternative philosophies, and so on) dictate otherwise. Local sharī‘ahs adapt realities to Revelation irrespective of whether sources of legislation or forms of government are Muslim or non-Muslim this was never an issue in Southeast Asia. The localized sharī‘ahs were achieved via an acceptance of legal pluralism and hybridization of laws. The result is that Revealed obligations are phrased in local terms, change over time is allowed for, and the end result is a truly original and unique set of ‘Southeast Asian’ sharī‘ahs.DOI: 10.15408/sdi.v20i2.38