PHYSICIANS LAX ABOUT OWN CARE

A new study suggests that less than half of medical doctors take their own advice and see a physician regularly, while college professors with doctoral degrees are much more likely to have their own physicians.

A re-examination of a 1983 survey of physicians' attitudes toward medical care revealed only 44 percent of the doctors surveyed had personal physicians compared to 74 percent of the Ph.Ds who responded to the questionnaire."This does not imply that physicians are less healthy," said Dr. Katherine Kahn, a UCLA internist."But the implication is that a substantial number of M.D.'s and Ph.D's do not have a personal physician and that they are less likely to receive good health maintenance and screening."