Helping physicians in distress. Developing a physician assessment and referral service.

In 1987, a Physician Assessment and Referral Service was created in the Department of Family Medicine of a large urban hospital to help physicians and their families. This article describes the rationale, development, accomplishments, and limitations of the service in light of 5 years' experience. Although this program was developed for family physicians in particular, it has value for all medical specialties.