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Tracy Hampton, PhD

JAMA. 2007;298:1387.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The difference between sickness and health sometimes involves patients' choices about medical care, choices that can be influenced by how physicians convey risks and benefits of interventions.

Researchers are finding that both clinicians and patients struggle to fully understand medical risks, but improved physician training and better communication can help provide clarity.

PHYSICIANS’ UNDERSTANDING

Statistics used to quantitate risk can involve descriptions and mathematical equations that are difficult for the physicians, let alone the public, to grasp.

Aids such as computer-based tools can help physicians convey to their patients risks and benefits of various medical interventions. (Photo credit: Mark Harmel/www.sciencesource.com)

"I don't think it's something that we have been particularly well trained in," said Michael Pignone, MD, MPH, an internist and epidemiologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "How much exposure students get to understanding risk themselves varies from medical school to medical school."

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