As we continue our work on the human body and read "The Making of a Surgeon", here's an article about the doctor-patient relationship. How involved personally should a doctor get involved with their patient, especially a seriously ill one? Have you ever gone to the doctor and felt they weren't listening to you or were to busy or distracted? Can a doctor be allowed to have a "bad day?"
3 comments:
Doctors are one of the few professions where the slightest amount of slack or sloppiness can lead to devastating mistakes. As such, I believe that doctors must be held to the highest standards at all times. While it is impossible to expect them to constantly perform at such a high level, it is unethical for practitioners to diagnose patients when they are, for some reason, uanble to think clearly. Doctors should seek to completely cleave their personal life from their personal, and view each patient/case objectively, without the influence or constraints of other issues.
I do not think that doctors, under any circumstances, should become emotionally involved with their patients. The emotional bond created between the two clouds objective medical prescription/treatment, as a doctor might become irrationally protective of a patient's well-being.
I can see why it would be helpful for patients, and even doctors, to be close with each other. People's sicknesses are very personal and it can be hard having an almost stranger be the one who makes and advices you on decisions.
However, I believe that patients can not ask that much from doctors. When I think about the number of patients one doctor will have during a year it makes it seem very close to impossible to correspond with all of them. also, patients commonly die and if the doctor is close to his patients it will eventually become to hard on them. It will cause great amounts of stress for them and will lead them to burn out much faster than normal. Also, there would be a lot of stress simple when treating the patient because they could feel too connected with their patient.
I think it's incredibly important for a doctor to establish and maintain good communication with their patients on a personal level. While a doctor may not connect as intensively to every one of his/her patient as Dr. Chen did with John, medicine is ultimately a human profession. Patients go through a lot of emotional stress aside from the obvious physical stress, and many times their doctor can be a source of hope. Although it may seem very difficult for some doctors to be that close or emotionally involved with their patients, I think that there is a way for doctors to be compassionate and personally caring towards their patients in a professional manner. As we learned from Dr. Nolen in Making of Surgeon, being excessively invested in patients emotionally can be very draining and debilitating, which can negatively affect everyone. Since doctors are humans too, I think that it is acceptable for doctors to have a “bad day” as long as they are professional and put their patients’ needs first.
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