HAS ANYONE MET A PATIENT? BALINT GROUPS WITH YOUNG DOCTORS IN THEIR FOUNDATION YEARS AT A COUNTY HOSPITAL IN SWEDEN

Abstract

Doctors in their foundation years attend a Balint group during their work in different departments at a County Hospital in Sweden. This programme has been a compulsory activity influenced by their Director of Studies. They work at this hospital for 15 months and they meet in the group once a month. In this paper there is a description of how the groups started and a closer perspective on the topics that tend to come back, frequently, in the different groups. This programme has been going on for 7 years and is still running. Frequent topics include how the doctor feels subordinate or insecure, the topic of death, treating friends and family, and reports to the National Swedish Board of Health and Welfare. Some differences in the occurrence of frequent topics between groups for foundation doctors and Balint groups for GPs are also discussed.