- Page navigation anchor for David Zigmond's article about sustaining work communitiesDavid Zigmond's article about sustaining work communities
It was a lovely experience to read David Zigmond's article and revisit the land of fulfilling general practice, which I inhabited too in the 1980s. The continuing relationship with patients and colleagues provided psychological and emotional sustenance, which was crucial in my work, and really made it meaningful.
Sadly, the industrialisation and fragmentation of general practice brought about especially by the QOF led me to seek 'refugee status' in hospice work and care instead.
David Zigmond, in his second footnote pays respect to Michael Balint. He was a psychoanalyst, and son of a GP, who worked with interested GPs providing case-based discussion groups, in which they could speak in total confidence about the feelings engendered by their patients and come to better understand their and perhaps their patients' response. He also wrote some seminal works, including 'Six Minutes for the Patient' and 'The Doctor, The Patient and the Illness' amongst others.
Although I loved my work as a GP, patients could provoke quite intense feelings in me, and no doubt I in them! I was so fortunate to be introduced to Balint group work when a GP trainee in 1982, which has been an illuminating, engaging, and stimulating help to understanding my human reactions throughout my professional life since.Current GPs in practice, must also be confounded by their feelings and reactions to their patients sometimes.
I am ple...
Competing Interests: None declared. - Page navigation anchor for Excellent articleExcellent articleThis is an excellent and thought provoking article that was so good that I read it twice. It is eloquently written and gives us all food for thought. We need more articles like this!Competing Interests: None declared.