Talking politics
Data in this survey were collected in summer months of 2020, before the U.S. presidential election, in a highly polarized climate. Some numbers reflect increasing distaste for such conversations with patients.
For example, the number of family physicians who said talking about politics with patients was ethical dropped from 31% in 2018 to 23% in the latest survey. The numbers remained nearly flat among IM physicians in the past 2 years – at 21% in 2018 and 23% this year.
Should a flu shot be mandatory?
Almost three-fourths of physicians overall – and 76% of IM physicians – say annual flu shots should be required for physicians who have patient contact. Agreement was somewhat lower among family physicians at 68%.
Some family physicians cited “freedom of choice” and that they would want to see a higher effectiveness rate before they were mandatory.
Data for this survey, with 5,130 respondents, were collected before COVID-19 vaccines became available.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.