THE PEDIATRICIAN AND HIS APOSTOLIC FUNCTION: PERCEPTIONS OF RESIDENT PHYSICIANS ABOUT THEIR PRACTICES

• Main Authors: Paulo Dickstein, Julio Sergio Verztman, Daniela Romão-Dias, Beatriz Pinheiro de Andrade
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Estadual de Maringá 2017-07-01
• Series: Psicologia em Estudo
• Subjects: Pediatria; relação médico-paciente; psicanálise.
• Online Access: http://periodicos.uem.br/ojs/index.php/PsicolEstud/article/view/32552
• ISSN: 1413-7372; 1807-0329

This study is the result of a pedagogical work with medical residents in pediatrics at a public hospital in Rio de Janeiro. The doctors met every day during a month with a supervisor to report about their daily practice. During these meetings they talked about the feelings that arouse in the doctors while they were with their patients. The focus of the consultation was directed on the doctor-patient´s relationship and the defensive patterns doctors may have. The study seeks to learn how subjective strategies used by pediatricians in training are applied in their everyday clinical practice. Eight residents of the first year of Pediatrics were interviewed focusing on issues related to childcare. These interviews were conducted following the Underlying Discourse Unveiling Method (UDUM) in the Field of Qualitative Research in which there are both opens another specific question.It was observed that the apostolic zeal, ie, defensive patterns of professionals, as it was defined by Michael Balint, manifests itself as a strong demand on the mothers, as well as a difficulty in knowing family dynamics. It is possible that these behaviors are related to an excessive idealization of the mother and the child as demonstrated by the analysis of the narratives. The work directed towards the idealized concepts of mothers and infants may be usefin mitigating the apostolic zeal in professionals in training.