Gender Differences in Employment and Salaries of Psychologists Within Medical School Settings

A survey of 3,894 psychologists employed within medical schools and academic health centers was conducted in 1997 by the Research Office of the American Psychological Association (APA) in collaboration with the Association of Medical School Psychologists (AMSP). This survey, published as the 1997 Employment Characteristics and Salaries of Medical School Psychologists, included inquiries about various aspects of employment (e.g., academic rank, tenure status, employment activities, appointment characteristics, department affiliations, demographic characteristics) and earnings. Employment characteristics and salary information were compared by gender. The findings indicated that men had more favorable employment circumstances and higher base salaries than their female counterparts. These differences existed across all academic ranks and were found at each level of experience. This article discusses these findings and their implications.     

新世纪综合性大学医学教育的发展方向与对策

新世纪综合性大学医学教育如何发展,如何建设,如何利用好多学科的优势是我国一些高等学校在联合、合并后亟需解决的问题。结合我校的实际情况,从这方面做了一些探索,主要论述了新世纪医学教育的发展趋势和走向,以及办好综合性大学医学教育所采取的对策和思路。     

Medical Psychology in Brazil

In 1962, Psychology was officially accorded professional status in Brazil. Since then the profession has been undergoing continuous development, but the training of psychologists still suffers from flaws that are reflected in the public heath service, SUS (Sistema Único de Saúde). However, SUS itself is also open to criticism: the service is badly distributed, the number of posts for psychologists is limited, and working conditions are poor. Nevertheless, many positive changes are occurring. These include plans to alter academic training to better meet the needs of the Brazilian population, an expansion of the roles played by psychologists in the health service, and increasing research activity. These and many other changes suggest that the progressive evolution of the profession in Brazil will continue.     

铲除医学领域的伪科学

简要回顾几年来关于医学庸俗化的学术讨论明确提出应从本质上对前科学、科学、伪科学和反科学这四个相关概念加以区分。医学庸俗化现象事实上包括伪科学和反科学两种既相联系、相区别的社会现象。指出“法轮功”是反科学而不是伪科学。医学中伪科学包括在基础医学１临床医学、临床药物不,乃至卫生管理领域弄虚作假,欺世盗名,违背科学,图财害命的百法行径。医学中的反科学则包括邪教活动、巫医神汉、预卜吉凶等迷信破坏活动。     

Medicine as a career: Choices and consequences

Medicine has traditionally been regarded as a rewarding career both financially and socially. How true, however, is that tradition in today's world of rising costs and decreasing revenues? The educational debt of the physician-in-training is steadily increasing, and currently does not affect specialty choice. As the cost of medical education continues to rise, the applicant pool begins to shrink, thereby possibly affecting the quality of future physicians. Once the physician has completed training however, the majority enjoy a positive return on investment. Their incomes generally fail to remain ahead of inflation, and therefore, have remained within a narrow band of $40,000 in 1970 dollars. Finally, the demand for physician services cannot be attributed solely to either the consumer (patient) or to the supplier (physician). Rather, the demand for medical services appears to be a unique combination of the two. In conclusion, medicine still is an attractive career path, but the choices and consequences are becoming much more demanding.     

Ethical issues in genetic counseling: A comparison of M.S. counselor and medical geneticist perspectives

New technologies available in the field of medical genetics have increased the importance of responsible ethical decision-making among genetic counselors. A 1985 national survey of M.D. and Ph.D. genetic counselors assessed ethical attitudes using case scenarios designed to simulate dilemmas faced in genetic counseling (Wertz and Fletcher, 1988b). The current study focuses on attitudes of M.S. genetic counselors using similar scenarios, allowing for effective comparisons. M.S. counselors were more willing than M.D. and Ph.D. counselors to maintain patient confidentiality when screening for Huntington's Disease and occupational diseases, and a greater number would agree to counsel patients pursuing prenatal testing for sex selection. A majority of M.S. counselors would disclose an XY karyotype to a phenotypically female patient. M.S. counselors reasoned that respect for patient autonomy and patient confidentiality justified their decisions in many cases. The importance of these principles is discussed and questioned.     

Reflections of a reluctant clinical ethicist: Ethics consultation and the collapse of critical distance

The obvious appeal and growing momentum of clinical ethics in academic medical centers should not blind us to a potential danger: the collapse of critical distance. The very integration into the clinical milieu and the processes of clinical decision making, that clinical ethics claims as its greatest success, carries the seeds of a dilution of ethics' critical stance toward medicine and medical education. The purpose of this paper is to suggest how this might occur, and what potential contributions of ethics to medicine might be sacrificed as a result. Medical sociology will be used for comparison. Sociologists have found that they may function either as students and critics of established medical practices and educational philosophies, or as collaborative participants in them — but rarely both. It may be that professional ethics is most effective when it plays the role of stranger rather than insider, and is continually able to question the most basic assumptions and values of the enterprise with which it is associated. As with medical sociology, ethics and humanities must ask to what extent their desire for acceptance in the clinic requires their acceptance of the clinic: specifically, acceptance of basic assumptions about optimal ways of organizing medical education, socializing physicians-in-training, providing care, and even of defining medical ethics itself. The paper concludes by recommending that ethics reassert its strangeness in the medical milieu even as it assumes a more prominent role within the medical center.     

我国医学人文社会学科发展现状与探讨

从国内４７所高等医学院校的调查可见,自８０年代以来,我国医学院校医学人文社会学科发展较快,各校都普遍开设了医学伦理学、医学心理学等课程。但目前还有部分学科教师缺乏、机构不健全、经费投入不足。应通过优化课程结构、加强师资培养、增加经费投入等措施,促进医学人文社会学科的发展,提高医学人文教育质量     

The Impact of Gender on Productivity and Satisfaction Among Medical School Psychologists

The impact of gender on productivity and satisfaction was examined among a random sample of 293 psychologists employed as faculty members in medical schools. Forty-one percent of the respondents were female. Males were older than females, had worked in a medical school longer, had higher academic ranks, held more administrative positions, were more likely to be tenured, and earned higher salaries. When years of employment as a psychologist were statistically controlled, there were no gender differences in productivity, as measured by publications, presentations, and grant awards; however, gender differences in salary remained. Females were less satisfied than males with regard to salary, promotion opportunities, and overall respect. Results are discussed within the context of the changing gender composition within psychology and the changing demands within the health care system.