Assessment of legal obligations of physicians from emergency physician perspective

Objective: To assess whether the emergency physicians are aware of legal obligations and responsibilities, and their point of view and knowledge levels on this topic.
Material and Methods: The study was conducted among emergency physicians as a face-to-face survey by giving verbal information, from different emergency departments of Turkey who attended the 4th International Euroasian Congress of Emergency, where 600 participants participated between 13-16 November 2014. All of the questions were organized in relation to the legal obligations of the physician.
Results: A total of 124 physicians participated in the questionnaire. Their mean age was 29.13±13.10, their medical experience was 29.13±13.10 years, and their mean emergency experience time was 7.17±4.90 years, and mean time after emergency residency was 2.96±4.00 years. It is striking that 43 (34.7%) of the participants answered the question “what is the most important legal responsibility of
emergency physicians?” as “to pay attention to patient care”. 116 (93.5%) of participants stated that handcuffs had to be removed during medical examination of the prisoners and detainees, and 100% of them reported that the patient’s privacy should be respected.
Conclusion: We think that physicians must be well-educated on legal issues during their undergraduate education to learn and apply the legislation about medical practice, and various courses and symposiums should be organized within the framework of in-service training.

Acil hekimlik perspektifinden hekimlerin hukuki yükümlülüklerinin deðerlendirilmesi

Amaç: Acil týp alanýnda çalýþan hekimlerin; hukuki yükümlülükleri ve sorumluluklarý hakkýnda bilgi sahibi olup olmadýklarýný irdelemek ve hukuki yükümlülükleri konusunda bilgi birikimlerini ve bakýþ açýlarýný deðerlendirmektir.
Gereç ve Yöntem: Çalýþma, 13-16 Kasým 2014 tarihleri arasýnda acil týp alanýnda düzenlenen 600 katýlýmcýnýn yer aldýðý uluslararasý 4. Avrasya Acil Týp Kongresi’ne Türkiye’nin farklý acil servislerinden katýlan acil hekimlerine; sözel olarak bilgi verilerek yüz yüze yapýlan anket çalýþmasýdýr. Sorularýn tamamý hekimin hukuki yükümlülükleri ile alakalý olarak düzenlenmiþtir.
Bulgular: Anket çalýþmasýna 124 týp doktoru katýlmýþ olup, çalýþmaya katýlanlarýn ortalama yaþý 29.13±13.10, mesleki icra süresi 9.06±5.60, acilde çalýþma süresi 7.17±4.90 ve uzmanlýk süresi 2.96±4.00 yýldýr. Hekimin en önemli yükümlülüðü sorusuna katýlýmcýlarýn 43’ünün (%34.7) özen yükümlülüðü cevabý dikkat çekicidir. Katýlýmcýlarýn 116’sý (%93.5) hükümlü ve tutuklularýn muayenesi esnasýnda kelepçelerinin çýkarýlmasý gerektiðini, %100’ü ise hasta mahremiyetine saygý gösterilmesi gerektiðini ifade etmiþtir.
Sonuç: Hekimlerin saðlýk alanýný ilgilendiren yasalarý öðrenmesi ve meslek yaþamlarýnda uygulayabilmesi için týp fakültesi eðitimi boyunca hekimlere hukuki konularda temel düzeyde de olsa eðitim verilmesi ayrýca bu eksikliðin giderilmesi için acil hekimlerine yönelik, meslek içi eðitim çerçevesinde çeþitli kurs ve sempozyumlarýn düzenlenmesi gerektiðini düþünmekteyiz.