In our profession it is essential to offer the best of us to others. So... why not ensure that we ourselves have access to good care in these cases? Let's not wait for others to show us up. We are people first, and then health professionals; we are citizens who, when we become ill, need, like any other person, the advice and the help of the best professionals. We must be alive to the possibility of illness in ourselves before reaching extreme situations, such as complaints by users, whistle-blowing by colleagues or ruptured families. Greater ease of access to health services. The PAIMM has been created to overcome the barriers that prevent us from seeing ourselves as patients and to facilitate for us access to quality healthcare which, in the case of illnesses related to mental disorders and/or addictive behaviours, is specialised. The personalised care, the discretion, the flexibility in the treatment and the specialized professional support conform to the characteristics of each patient, whether we are talking about treatment at an individual, group or family level, or the adaptation of schedules as well as provision for care during vacations. More than healthcare. The PAIMM, being the authentically integral program that it is, has widened its scope so that it can offer the sick physician:
Better results. The experience of the PAIMM is very much in line with that of similar programs in other countries, especially in the United States, Canada and Australia, which show that programs specifically for doctors obtain better results than the services aimed at the population in general, in terms both of a lower dropout rate and a higher degree of rehabilitation. Note for the doctor of doctors. If we are treating a medical patient, we ought not to forget the assistance the PAIMM can afford us: information on how to act, therapeutic support when needed, and legal assistance. The responsibility which we have vis-à-vis our patients takes on a new meaning when treating a colleague with this type of ailment, since we also assume, in a sense, his/her responsibility vis-à-vis his/her patients. (0034) 902 362 492. Dialling this telephone number may be a good first step. One of the team's specialized physicians will attend to us confidentially and inform us. If appropriate, a first appointment will be made for assessment purposes. A fictitious name contributes to the discretion that we demand in the case of this type of illness, heavily laden as it is with social stigma. Advice to fellow-physicians. In addition to being essential for our well-being, the health of each of us is, in so far as we are medical professionals, a guarantee for our patients. For this reason, our support for our professional colleagues ought not to be based on the covering-up of situations of risk. Rather, mutual trust and solidarity among peers, as well as professional duty, are the basis for advising the sick physician about the existence of specialized services like those of the PAIMM. Any difficulty that we may encounter when it comes to referring a sick physician to the PAIMM can be discussed in the Reception Unit of the Program, where we will be given the pertinent orientations concerning the best strategy to follow. Nor should we forget that a doctor who is aware that another doctor has a health problem that may entail a risk of malpractice has the deontological duty to communicate it to the Secretary of the corresponding Medical Council. Clinical programs
These programs can be adapted to certain personal circumstances, such as in periods of vacation.  |
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