The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037, USA.
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2010 Sep;143(3):337-40. doi: 10.1016/j.otohns.2010.05.012.
To identify diseases of the head and neck for which primary care physicians may underappreciate the role of the otolaryngologist.
Cross-sectional analysis.
With increasing subspecialization in the world of medicine, there is the potential for confusion about the scope of practice for different specialties by primary care physicians. These clinicians are often faced with patients who have disease processes in which otolaryngologist are trained but may end up referring patients to other specialists.
A brief, web-based survey was administered via e-mail to resident physicians of family medicine, pediatrics, and internal medicine programs in the United States. The survey asked responders which specialist they believed was an expert for particular clinical entities: allergies, oral cancer, restoring a youthful face, sleep apnea, thyroid surgery, and tracheostomy. Respondents could choose from a dermatologist, general surgeon, ophthalmologist, oral maxillofacial surgeon, orthopedic surgeon, otolaryngologist, and plastic surgeon. The responder was able to choose more than one specialist for each question.
A total of 1064 completed surveys were analyzed. The percentage of primary care residents who picked otolaryngologists as experts was 13.8 percent for allergies, 73.6 percent for oral cancer, 2.7 percent for restoring a youthful face, 32.4 percent for sleep apnea, 47.2 percent for thyroid surgery, and 72.5 percent for tracheostomy.
This study demonstrates that many primary care residents are not aware of the scope of expertise that an otolaryngologist may offer. Increased exposure to otolaryngology during primary care residency training may increase understanding of the specialty among primary care physicians.
确定初级保健医生可能低估耳鼻喉科医生作用的头颈部疾病。
横断面分析。
随着医学领域的专业化程度不断提高，初级保健医生对不同专业实践范围的潜在混淆越来越大。这些临床医生经常面对患有耳鼻喉科医生接受过培训但最终将患者转介给其他专家的疾病过程的患者。
通过电子邮件向美国家庭医学、儿科学和内科住院医师进行了简短的网络调查。该调查询问受访者他们认为哪些专家是特定临床实体的专家：过敏、口腔癌、恢复年轻面容、睡眠呼吸暂停、甲状腺手术和气管切开术。受访者可以从皮肤科医生、普通外科医生、眼科医生、口腔颌面外科医生、整形外科医生、耳鼻喉科医生和整形外科医生中选择。对于每个问题，受访者可以选择多个专家。
共分析了 1064 份完成的调查。选择耳鼻喉科医生为过敏专家的初级保健住院医师的比例为 13.8%，口腔癌为 73.6%，恢复年轻面容为 2.7%，睡眠呼吸暂停为 32.4%，甲状腺手术为 47.2%，气管切开术为 72.5%。
本研究表明，许多初级保健住院医师并不了解耳鼻喉科医生可能提供的专业知识范围。在初级保健住院医师培训期间增加对耳鼻喉科的接触可能会增加初级保健医生对该专业的理解。
