Capacity Assessment by Attending Physician or Capacity Assessor

• Author: Dr. Heather Gilley and Dr. Carole Cohen
• Pages: 301-308

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CapacityAssessmentbyAending

PhysicianorCapacityAssessor

Dr. Heather Gilley*andDrCaroleCohenFRCPC†

DHGYouhaveheardalotaboutcapacityassessmentand

theinvolvementofphysiciansandcapacityassessorsa nditmaybeabit

muddledupnowsoCaroleandIaregoingtotr yinaveryshortper iod

ofti meto just clarify what youca nexpec tfrom physicians when you

needhelpwithcapacitymaersandwhatyoucanexpectfromcapacity

assessorsandbasicallywhoweare andwhatwemightbeabletodoto

assistinanyofthesemaers

I‘m a specialist i n geriatric medicine and I also happen to be a cap-

acity assessor so I understand the d ierence in the two perspectives

andhowitcancreatetremendousdicultyforphysicianswhentheyre

askedtoassesscapacitiesImgoingtotrytobringabitofthatpersonal

experienceintothings

Imnotsurehowmuchpeopleu nderstandthedi erencesbetween

dierent types of physicians There ar e primary care physicians and

specialist physicians and thed ierenceis really in the length and de-

greeof focusof thet rainingPr imary carephysicians areoen known

asfamilyphysiciansandspec ialistsarephysicianswhoonlyse epeople

onreferral froma familydoctorPr imaryca rephysicians usuallyhave

abouttwo years ofbroadbased practical training Iti ski ndof like an

apprenticeshipaer medicalschool Somedoa noptional third yearto

 OfStMichaelsHospitalUniversityofToronto

 OfSunnybrookHealthS ciencesCentreUnivers ityofToronto