REPLY
Domestic Violence and Physician Intervention
Richard B. Weinberg, MD
1 September 1996 | Volume 125 Issue 5 | Page 427
IN RESPONSE:
Dr. Rixey expresses concern that "Communion" may be taken as a cautionary tale of why "not to ask." She worries that the story could amplify physicians' fears about personally rectifying the pyschosocial problems physicians may discover in their patients.
The intense relationship described in my article does not imply that a physician must serve as a personal counsellor for every patient. Most often, as Dr. Rixey points out, resources are available to assist us in this task. Occasionally, however, the needs of a patient call us to commit ourselves beyond screening questions, beyond referrals, beyond the convenient or the comfortable.
The main point of my article is that such intervention is not to be feared. What I really learned was that to "... own the problem, fix it, be responsible ..." can provide one of the most exquisite joys of our profession.
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Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157-1048
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