Technological advances in medicine and dentistry have led to an increase in stressful diagnostic and treatment procedures, presenting problems for health care providers. Agitated patients require more analgesia or sedation, and are more likely to encounter complications. Evidence also indicates that those who tolerate procedures poorly recover more slowly. Finally, those who experience greater distress
Recognizing the difficulties that an increasing number of workers face when they combine job with family responsibilities, many lawmakers and activists fought for and won the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993. Moving beyond prior legislation that allowed maternity leave, the FMLA mandates that employers provide up to 12 weeks
Medical genetics is the study of the interrelationship between human biological variation, including both genetic and environmental sources, and the phenotypic outcomes of health and disease. The field has rapidly moved to the forefront of biomedical research. Its overall goal is the detection and treatment of pathological genetic variation. In the past, medical genetics focused
The study of medical education as a process of professional socialization is at best a dormant and at worse a dying object of academic inquiry. What once helped to legitimate an emerging academic field (medical sociology) in the 1950s and 1960s has since fallen on hard conceptual and analytic times. Today, cutting edge work on
Medical laboratory technicians, also known as clinical laboratory technicians, perform routine tests in medical laboratories. These tests help physicians and other professional medical personnel diagnose and treat disease. Technicians prepare samples of body tissue; perform laboratory tests, such as urinalysis and blood counts; and make chemical and biological analyses of cells, tissue, blood, or other
Medical technologists, also called clinical laboratory technologists, are health professionals whose jobs include many health care roles. They perform laboratory tests essential to the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. They work under the direction of laboratory managers and pathologists. Approximately 302,000 medical technologists and technicians are employed in the United States. The history of
Medical secretaries perform administrative and clerical work in medical offices, hospitals, or private physicians’ offices. They answer phone calls, order supplies, handle correspondence, bill patients, complete insurance forms, and transcribe dictation. Medical secretaries also handle bookkeeping, greet patients, schedule appointments, arrange hospital admissions, and schedule surgeries. There are approximately 373,000 medical secretaries employed throughout the
In any hospital, clinic, or other health care facility, permanent records are created and maintained for all the patients treated by the staff. Each patient’s medical record describes in detail his or her condition over time. Entries include illness and injuries, operations, treatments, outpatient visits, and the progress of hospital stays. Medical record technicians compile
Medical librarians, also called medical information specialists, help doctors, patients, and other medical personnel find health information and select materials best suited to their needs. These specialized librarians work in hospitals, medical schools, corporations, and university medical centers. Over the years the duties of librarians have evolved along with the development of different kinds of
Medical illustrators and photographers use graphics, drawings, and photographs to make medical concepts easier to understand. Medical illustrators provide illustrations of anatomical and biological structures and processes, as well as surgical and medical techniques and procedures. Medical photographers take photos that communicate complex medical or scientific information for use in textbooks, professional journals, and other