This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

J. Trig Brown, MD; Conrad C. Fulkerson, MD
Duke University Medical Center Durham, NC

JAMA. 1986;256(24):3348.

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

To the Editor.—

One model of the physician-patient relationship, attachment theory, is nicely described in Dr Berlin's recent article.¹ He applies this model to explain clinical phenomena observed when the bond between the physician and the patient is disrupted. We encourage him to put his theory to the test.

Recently, we and others,^2-4 also prompted by clinical observations, have tried to measure the effect of dissolving the physician-patient relationship in ambulatory medicine clinics. No measurable effect was seen. This does not necessarily mean that dissolving the relationship has no effect; it is possible that the wrong patient behaviors were measured. It may mean, however, that the majority of patients tolerate the termination and transfer of care well. Dr Berlin's experience may be biased because he is called in to consult about those patients who tolerate the termination poorly. It would be a major addition to the understanding of . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?