VOL 5: JULY • JUILLET 2005d Canadian Family Physician • Le Médecin de famille canadien 955
Letters
Corresp ondance
Anticoagulation in urban family practice training
H
aving recently read the article by Nast et al,1 we were inspired to review our own experi- ence with anticoagulation. At the St Joseph’s Family Medical Centre in London, Ont, our team has 37 patients with atrial fibrillation receiving warfarin.Decisions about medication dosages are made by family practice residents, in conjunction with a team nurse. There were 324 international normalized ratio tests done on these 37 patients during the last 6 months, and 64.5% (208) of results fell within the therapeutic range of 2.0 to 3.0. Th is demonstrates that urban family practice training programs, like remote primary care practices in Bella Coola, BC, can attain or surpass the standard of 60% set by spe- cialty anticoagulation clinics.
—Deanna Head, RN
—Blair Pierce, MD, FCFP London, Ont by e-mail Reference
1. Nast SL, Tierney MJ, McIlwain R. Anticoagulation management in remote primary care [abstract]. Can Fam Physician 2005;51:384-5.
FOR PRESCRIBING INFORMATION SEE PAGE 1013
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