The Ability to Develop Critique and Use New Knowledge - Essay Example

Professional Practices Student Name Course Name Tutor Date Professional Practices Introduction Professional practices are those acts in the process of attaining the required results while at the same time displaying desirable behaviour that will ensure proper relationships with those being attended to. It also offers inner guidance that directs one into positive actions. Professionalism involves observing certain principles that will guide one into meeting the desired practise. One of the principles of professionalism is respect. Having respect means that one honours his duties in meeting the needs of his or her clients. Lack of respect can make the client not to recognize the value of the services being offered (Liebler & McConnell, 2004). Another principle of professionalism is integrity. This means doing what is required at the right time and in the right manner. It also implies doing according to the set standards. Some field of practise such as medicine have set standards of service which all professionals in such field must maintain. Integrity is also important while relating to the clients. This avoids formation of unnecessary relationships with the clients especially in the medical field. Integrity also involves honesty. One should be honest and act within the area of profession maintaining competency without any exaggeration (Barrows, 2003). Thesis statement This essay will discuss the role of research in professional practice and argue that professionalism is inherently linked with the ability to develop critique and use new knowledge. Role of research in professional practice Research plays a very important role in the professional practice. It allows the professionals to add value into their works and their practices. Use of research puts a line between those professionals who keep their status quo not questionable and others who struggle to build up their professional practices by continuously evaluating and investigating them (American Foundation Staff 1998). One of the major importances of research in professionals is that it helps the people to understand the problems and issues that they may experience while in their places of work. Research adds to knowledge and development of skills and may hence provide solution to some issues. Professionals may meet challenging situations that they may not be able to handle with their knowledge and research may help open up further knowledge to them. Research may also help in fields where the main goal is to maintain or develop services. For example, in areas where information services must always be practical and relevant to their clients, the specialists must always keep updated information and this can be achieved by continuous research. Research is also important in achieving accountability. Research enables in identifying methods that are cost effective and that will deliver best results. It helps in exploring various fields in search for alternative highly productive methods. Research can also assist in policy making where it will avail information that justifies research funding. Research can also produce information that is appealing to the funding bodies and other professional fields (Henkel, 1999). Professional responsibilities in the medical field Medical practitioners acquired knowledge through research that enables them carry out their duties with ultimate professionalism. According to Annals of Internal Medicine (2010), it is their professional duty to apply the knowledge in providing quality medical care to the patients. One of their responsibilities is commitments to professional competence. Physicians must always maintain knowledge in medicine and the skills that are required in administration of care to the patients. The medical profession must also ensure that all the professionals are competent before allowing them to practise (Sim & Radloff 2009). Another professional responsibility of the physicians is to maintain honesty with the patient. Physicians must be honest while informing the patients in the process of consenting for treatment. In case a patient is injured in the process of treatment, the physicians must inform the patient since this will allow for strategies to improve on the injury or compensate. Physicians also have a responsibility of maintaining confidentiality in their professionalism. Confidentiality earns them the trust of the patient. In the current times, confidentiality is very important with the use of electronic systems in compiling the patient’s data. This can only be compromised for public interest where a patient’s condition may pose danger to others (Beyleveld, Townend & Wright, 2005). Hilton & Southgate (2007) argue that physicians also have the responsibility of maintaining proper relationships with the patients. The relationship between the physicians and the patient should be professional and the physician should not exploit the patient for any sexual or financial gain. Physicians should also be committed to improving the quality of care given to patients. This can be achieved through continuous research in the medical field to discover better ways of dealing with the patient’s conditions. They should also be actively involved in development of better methods of medical care. They should also take part in implementation of systems that promote continuous improvements in the medical care. Physicians should also be committed to scientific knowledge. Much of the medicine’s business with the community is founded on physician’s maintenance of integrity and proper use of scientific knowledge and modern technology. Medical professionals have the duty to maintain scientific standards, encourage research, avail new skills and ensure their proper use. The professionals should also ensure that the integrity of this information is maintained and this should be founded on scientific evidence. According to World Health Organization (2003), medical practitioners should also be committed to maintaining all their professional responsibilities. They should work jointly to ensure that patients receive maximum care and in disciplining those who fail to maintain the standards. The profession should set standards for both the current and future members. This should include scrutiny of their performance in the profession. Role of research in medical field Research is a very important aspect in all professional fields including medicine. Biomedical research is the type of research done in the medical field with the aim of assisting the body of knowledge and skills the medical field. Research in the medical field falls under two categories. The first one ifs the research that is done to find out new treatments that are safe and efficient, this is known clinical trials while the other category is the research that is done to develop the new treatments. This is known as preclinical research. Research that is carried out in many countries is funded by research bodies which provide money for purchase of equipments and salaries for those carrying out the research. However, research in the medical field is usually regulated depending on the country’s ethical standards. Medical research involves studies that are done to acquire information on health matters. The main purpose of medical research is to understand how human bodies function, why they fall sick and what can be done to keep them well. Generally, medical research is done to achieve the goals of improving health. The information acquired is for advancing the physician’s knowledge on various medical conditions (Curry & Makoul 1998). Research is the basis for any progress in fields of medicine and surgery. It is difficult to make advancements in the medical field without getting involved in research. It is at the fore front of medical care offered to patients. Medical research has long since been carried out the learning centers but the research findings have been in most cases not applicable to the health care settings in the community. This has resulted in a difference between what is possible and what practical in delivery quality healthcare in many countries including the United States. The main solution to this can be the set up of laboratories in the primary health care settings and maintaining Practise-based research networks to link the primary care centers in the community to clinical research (Weatherall, 2001). Research in medicine varies from fundamental research to clinical research and applied technology. Fundamental research is the one that investigates the biological systems and their functioning. This offers knowledge that can be used in clinical research to assist in understanding certain diseases and to discover better treatments and methods of preventing them. Applied technologies are a combination of both the fundamental research and the clinical research in matters of vaccines, diagnostics and health care products (Amin & Khoo, 2003). Examples of the benefits of medical Research According to Varmus (1997), research in the medical field has changed the expression of modern medicine. For the past fifty years, the medical practitioners had little knowledge and skills to enable them effectively treat patients with the most deadly diseases (Varmus, 1997). Most of the modern aspects of medicine were not discovered such as antibiotics and vaccines for conditions such as polio and measles. Hormone replacement therapies, proper therapies for cancer and treatments for genetic diseases were all unknown. However, the successes that have been achieved in the modern medicine have encouraged public interest in research and the public has believed in the potential of the modern medicine through research. Atherosclerosis and other heart diseases have been the leading cause of death in many parts of the world with the aging population. However, the proportion in age of people who dies of these conditions has declined among the population. This is following the research that has been able to identify the risk factors such as obesity and physical inactivity. Research has also identified the measures such as behaviour change that can be adopted to decrease the chances of development of such conditions. Clinical research has also identified a number of diagnostic measures and treatments such as coronary artery bypass and thrombolytic therapy, and other drugs that can be used by patients of cardiovascular diseases to help in their conditions (Beauchamp & McCullough, 2004). Another condition that has been solved through clinical research is osteoporosis. This has been affecting millions of aging women and posing a financial burden to them. Osteoporosis is characterised by loss of bone mass resulting to fractures in the bones. However, for the last few decades, research has opened up a new thinking concerning the condition. The new insights are that the condition is not linked to aging but to nutrition and physical activities. National Institute of Health in the United States has supported clinical research that revealed strong evidence to proper nutrition and physical activity in preventing the loss of bone mass among the aged women. This was aided by provision of nutritional supplements containing calcium and vitamin D. Recent research done of postmenopausal women suffering from osteoporosis has also identified medications that can be adopted such as administration of oestrogen to cut down the process of bone-desorbing by the cells and hence improve on the strength of the bones. Clinical research has also played a role in treating diabetes mellitus, a condition that has affected billions of people in the whole world. The condition affects the manner in which human bodies utilize food for growth and to gain energy. Insulin was first discovered in 1925 and since then there has been slow progress in curbing the effects of the disease. However, research that has been carried out in recent years has identified better ways of managing diabetes mellitus and its accompanying complications. Research has led to a realization that diabetes occurs n two forms: type 1, also known as insulin dependent and type II, known as non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Clinical research has identified new forms of insulin that are manufactured through the process of genetic engineering and offers easy means for doctors to assess the levels of blood sugar and for the patients to carry out tests of their blood sugar while at home. It has also discovered better ways of managing the complications such as damage to the eyes, liver and kidneys by using antihypertensive drugs known an ACE. This research has reduced the number of deaths that occur due to diabetes. Clinical research has also partially succeeded in controlling the AIDS pandemic. Behavioural, epidemiological and immunological research has identified means of reducing the prevalence of the disease even without an effective vaccine. Clinical research has also played a role in revealing various manifestations of AIDS, development of better therapies for its opportunistic diseases and discovery of genes that resist HIV that have resulted from mutation of the genes (Commission on Health Research for Development 2000). Role of research to the medical professionals The medical field is ever changing and new discoveries are being made concerning the deadly diseases. It is therefore very necessary for a medical professional to keep up with the changes. This can only be achieved by getting involved in medical research for one to be able to make a contribution to the changes. Working in the medical facilities also exposes one to ever changing equipments and needs for such equipments. Research helps the medics to learn more about them and their handling. For example the radioactive materials used in treatments of some diseases such as cancer have their specifications on how they should be handled and used (Sudana, 2004). Medicine has nowadays become an evidence based practise where one cannot adopt a treatment that has not been proved by evidence. Those who prove such treatments must publish them in papers to be read by others in the field. By getting involved in such studies, the medical practitioners can be able to interpret the publications and adopt them with ease. Medical research also enables the health professionals to discover new medications to some illnesses. Research avails new drugs to the market which cannot be used by the doctors after it has been approved through medical research. Therefore when faced by a patient who cannot use the approved medication, the doctors have to involve themselves in a medical research so that they can get drugs that they need. For example some forms of cancer have no approved medicine and therefore doctors of such cases must participate in medical research so that they can access drugs for such cancer (Veatch, 2006). (Lindbloom et al, 2004) note that medical research is also important for the future of medicine. It helps to discover new drugs and identify those that are not effective and have undesirable side effects. Medical research also helps the doctors to identify those drugs that have counter effects thereby saving the patients from combining those drugs that counteract each other. It also helps the doctors to understand how some traditional remedies could work in curing some disease. Conclusion Professional practices differ according to the area of profession. There is therefore a need to maintain the basic principles of professional practices that are common to all fields. However, there are those areas where professionalism must be maintained more than others. This is especially in the medical field. Policies governing the medical profession also insist on the importance of research in meeting the needs of patients. This can be achieved by maintaining updated information on all practices in medicine. Medical profession can only survive by maintaining latest information due to the many new diseases that are infecting the people. Research is important to both the medical professionals and to the medical field. Research in the field plays a role in discovery of new measures of dealing with deadly disease, their causes and their associated complications. To the professionals, research enables them to understand to deal with new drugs that come into market and also to solve the problems they encounter. Medical field is very challenging and the professionals are faced with challenges in their daily activities. It is therefore important to maintain updated information within the field to ensure that current and future problems are solved. 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