Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay on medical ethics
Medical / individual ethics
Applying medical ethical principles
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
When we hear stories about how the doctor ambulated the wrong leg or left surgical tool around in the patient’s body, we indeed think, how could such a person be a doctor? Did he or she not reflect the mistake? In the chapter, “When Good Doctor Go Bad,” Dr. Gawande provide the story of a former orthopedic surgeon, Hank Goodman. Hank Goodman used to be highly respected and sought-after surgeon. However, after he had become increasingly busy working on ceaseless surgeries, his work become sloppy and careless.
The thesis of this chapter states that in certain situations, it is crucial to listen to a medical professional, however, in others, it is very important to listen to yourself and also to do what you feel is right. The author of Complications," Atul Gawane, has written this specific chapter to persuade the reader of his thesis. If the choice you make is incorrect, then it could potentially be a matter of life and death. Atul Gawande gives multiple examples of patients that have made wrong and right decisions to prove his point. He uses the personal anecdotes of four different people, with four decisions to prove his point.
The Story of the Murderous Doctor “More than 700,000 people die in hospitals each year in the U.S.” (Shmerling). Although it is doctors’ job to save lives, deaths still occur. When in a hospital, the patient’s life lies in the doctor’s hands. Most doctors do everything in their power to make sure that their patients stay alive, of course, there are exceptions for everything. In this case, the patient’s life who ends up in the hands of Michael Swango might not be so lucky.
In every society, views differ; however, most views on medicine followed a particular trend. Society saw medicine as holy. Citizens believed that a doctor was similar to a divine being, preserving life. Additionally, “specialized knowledge and the power of healing … were associated with the sacred and the divine.” (Laurel).
Beginning with discussions of the sick role, and expectations of what is socially expected of a sick person, we learn that in contrast to the sick role, within society, physicians are expected to be competent and responsible (Parsons 1951: 293). Physicians are also, of course, members of a profession, where they learn how to embody their roles as expected by their practice, their patients, and society (Becker et al. 1961). Becoming a physician involves a process of socialization where trainees are exposed to the opinions of their peers, as well as the expectations of their instructors. This socialization in the role of a “physician” prepares physicians for the social role of their title, and gives physicians authority over trainees, patients, and medical discourse within the larger society (Friedson 2007 [1970]: 41-41). Physicians are experts; they have knowledge about the body and illness, which gives them power and a position of expertise (Foucault 1980
While most health care workers do strive to achieve their best, even the best doctors inadvertently make
He bounced up, shakes hands, and maybe even thanks the doctor. The reader is left pondering what invaluable blessing it is that the speaker feels he has quite recently gotten. There is something extremely abnormal about this misleadingly straightforward, truthful poem. The doctor ought to put forth encouragement, yet it appears that the patient is more touchy and mindful than the doctor, who is a sympathetic yet unoriginal man of science. The speaker understands that the doctor feels awkward in that
He has nerve and he has knowledge.” Doctors make the greatest criminals for many reasons. Doctors are highly intelligent and very knowledgeable of the human anatomy. In
Index Introduction……………………………………………………………page 3 Pre-appointment research……………………………………………page 4 Job shadowing experience………………………………………….. page 5-6 Overview……………………………………………………………….. page 7 References… …………………………………………………………. page 8 Introduction The beginning of medicine can be pinned back to the late 1800s, in Germany.
Aristotle said that the doctor does not cure the idea of the human, unless he cures Gallias or Socrates. He cures the human being as individual. Doctors can not cure the human race, but rather analyze each aspect of a single human with the greatest amount of individualized attention as the patient requires. Every patient is like puzzle of their own, they require precise attention to build a full understand of what can be done to make the task (diagnosis) easier and faster.
The “bounded awareness” phenomenon causes people to ignore critical information when making decisions. In fact there are evidences confirming that people routinely overlook important information during the decision-making process. One cause is our tendency to become overly focused. Focus limits awareness, so that important information outside the range of focus can be missed. Doctors, like the rest of us, have to take decisions under time restrictions, which eventually causes us to not pay attention to important information.
The caution is also related to the entire medical profession’s recognition that it is more susceptible than in the past to public scrutiny and censure. Sensational revelations of ethically questionable experimentation, the threat of alpractice suits, and increasing oversight by medical insurance managers, institutional review boards (IRBs), and ethics committees, have made serious inroads on a medical paternalism that once granted doctors wide latitude in medical decision
But not everything is fun and entertainment, being in a surgery is an immense responsibility. The life of a person is in the hands of the surgeon and any mistake he makes can cause tremendous problems. Neil Kokemuller, the author of “The Hazards of Being a Doctor” states, “A major financial hazard for doctors is increased risks of malpractice lawsuits. Doctors in many specialty areas face the unfortunate prospect of getting sued by a patient or family if they make a mistake, or even if they don't, but the results can be bad.” (Add citation after quote)
‘The patient-doctor relationship is a privileged one that depends on the patient’s trust in the doctor’s professionalism’ The above quote is the introduction to professional conduct and practice section in the Irish Medical Council Guide for Registered Medical Practitioners, but it is also in essence the introduction to the most quintessential quality in the practice of medicine; professionalism. An image that will always resonate with me will be our introduction to Health in the Community (HC) lecture, our lecturer simply said; “I’m going to teach you how to be a doctor.”. All 120 of us sat, biased, thinking ‘No, anatomy, physiology and biochemistry will teach us how to be doctors’, 11 lectures later and we realised he really was teaching
This science is very complicated, as the human body is very complex, as it starts out as a single cell which is fertilized egg which divides endlessly forming millions of cells which then specialized for particular functions. Physicians should have this knowledge as the object of medical science is to study diseases and should be trained on how to use them in the clinical practice and in diagnosing and treatment of diseases of patients. For example, if the physician is outgoing with good communication skills, so he can create an effective relationship with his patients. As a result of this, he will know them as a person, not as a doctor and he can give them the desire to live. But if he does not have the knowledge, so he cannot help his patients in getting rid of their pains by diagnosing of diseases, he can only communicate well with them.