Problem orientated medical records--all or none?

Junior hospital doctors from different medical schools were asked about their experience of the Problem Orientated Medical Record. Few had been introduced to this method of writing notes by their teachers when they were undergraduates, though more had learned about it from other sources. The majority of those with experience of the method found it preferable to the more conventional one. The advantages and disadvantages of the method are discussed and it is suggested that a less rigid format might make it more acceptable. This can be achieved by writing follow-up notes in the usual way and using the problem orientated approach only when the patient is assessed for the first time or when information is passed from one team of doctors to another.