Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums

User menu

  • My alerts

Search

  • Advanced search
The College of Family Physicians of Canada
  • Other Publications
    • http://www.cfpc.ca/Canadianfamilyphysician/
    • https://www.cfpc.ca/Login/
    • Careers and Locums
  • My alerts
The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Articles
    • Current
    • Published Ahead of Print
    • Archive
    • Supplemental Issues
    • Collections - French
    • Collections - English
  • Info for
    • Authors & Reviewers
    • Submit a Manuscript
    • Advertisers
    • Careers & Locums
    • Subscribers
    • Permissions
  • About CFP
    • About CFP
    • About the CFPC
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
  • Feedback
    • Feedback
    • Rapid Responses
    • Most Read
    • Most Cited
    • Email Alerts
  • Blogs
    • Latest Blogs
    • Blog Guidelines
    • Directives pour les blogues
  • Mainpro+ Credits
    • About Mainpro+
    • Member Login
    • Instructions
  • RSS feeds
  • Follow cfp Template on Twitter
LetterLetters

When science translates badly

David Zitner
Canadian Family Physician March 2017, 63 (3) 199;
David Zitner
Halifax, NS
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • eLetters
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

In the article “Statistical research: lost in translation?” Drs Hogg, Wong, and Burge1 clearly describe an important issue. Language influences our perception of reality.

They describe independent practice as each doctor being in a full “stand-alone” operation with independent space, independent staff, independent records, and independent finances, and suggest the practitioner does not interact in his or her regular day-to-day work with others doing the same type of work. Using their criteria, no family medicine practice qualifies as an independent practice because all practitioners “influence each other, however minimally.”1 Solo general practitioners do not operate in isolation. They routinely collaborate with other health professionals. Every practitioner works and collaborates with medical and nonmedical experts who are also trying to help patients.

Solo practitioners might not share office space, but they do share overall resources and spaces for care, including access to laboratory tests, emergency departments, hospital beds, and common areas in medical buildings. Each day, staff in solo practice relate by e-mail, telephone, or fax with staff in the offices of other general practitioners or specialists. Patient information, including health records, is often shared with other doctors using common standards.

In all provinces, the incomes of all primary care practitioners are related. Government decides on the pool of money available for primary care. The payments per visit or salaries for each doctor relate to the total number of clinicians and the services they provide.

The authors use the term independent practice, but the term solo practice might be a better descriptor. Hardly anyone, including medical professionals, fulfils the criteria outlined by Donner and Klar2 for independent practice. Solo practitioners have never been independent; they have always collaborated with and been influenced by the people around them and the government who pays them.

Footnotes

  • Competing interests

    None declared

  • Copyright© the College of Family Physicians of Canada

References

  1. 1.↵
    1. Hogg WE,
    2. Wong ST,
    3. Burge F
    . Statistical research: lost in translation? If you want to get doctors onside, speak their language. Can Fam Physician 2016;62:524.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
  2. 2.↵
    1. Donner A,
    2. Klar N
    . Design and analysis of cluster randomisation trials in health research. London, UK: Arnold; 2000.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Family Physician: 63 (3)
Canadian Family Physician
Vol. 63, Issue 3
1 Mar 2017
  • Table of Contents
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on The College of Family Physicians of Canada.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
When science translates badly
(Your Name) has sent you a message from The College of Family Physicians of Canada
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the The College of Family Physicians of Canada web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
When science translates badly
David Zitner
Canadian Family Physician Mar 2017, 63 (3) 199;

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Share
When science translates badly
David Zitner
Canadian Family Physician Mar 2017, 63 (3) 199;
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • Excellent chronic pain guideline
  • Treating the vaccine hesitant
  • Francophone participation at Family Medicine Forum
Show more Letters

Similar Articles

Navigate

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Archive
  • Collections - English
  • Collections - Française

For Authors

  • Authors and Reviewers
  • Submit a Manuscript
  • Permissions
  • Terms of Use

General Information

  • About CFP
  • About the CFPC
  • Advertisers
  • Careers & Locums
  • Editorial Advisory Board
  • Subscribers

Journal Services

  • Email Alerts
  • Twitter
  • RSS Feeds

Copyright © 2022 by The College of Family Physicians of Canada

Powered by HighWire