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Identifying the Physician Who is Impaired
- Extent of impairment fluctuates
- Some control is usually maintained but is unpredictable
- Coworkers and family will deny or minimize the problem
- Chemical dependence rarely improves without treatment
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The American Medical Association defines an impaired physician as a physician who is "unable to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety to patients because of physical or mental illness, including deterioration through the aging process or loss of motor skill, or excessive use of abuse of drugs including alcohol."
The family of a physician who is impaired is almost always the first to experience the harmful effects of chemical dependence. Significantly, although family members may know that something is wrong, they may not at first have a clear sense of the nature or cause of the problem.
Several other areas of a physician's life is impacted by chemical dependence, including their career, the hospital, office, and community. Behavior and emotional/cognitive changes may be observed.
Effective screening, such as the Family CAGE, is the first step in the diagnosis and treatment of alcoholism. The instrument is intended to screen for alcohol problems in families, not to diagnose family alcoholism.
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Last Published: 6/20/2006 Print this page
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