Clinician-Patient Relationship - Assignment Example

The doctor is regarded as wiser than the patient and is, therefore, under a legal obligation to ensure the treatment given to the patient is of value and it does not cause any damage. Thus fiduciary relationship incorporates a strong component of socialization into the cloistered culture of medicine and makes the medical profession more accountable to the public. How is it that faithfulness to the patient has the potential to make the patient mad at you or think that you have not been trustworthy?

It should be a matter of discretion for the physician about the extent to which the patient should be involved in making decisions. The physician should also exercise caution in what to disclose and what to suppress, considering the susceptibilities of the patient. Being completely candid may cause the patient to become suspicious or irritated. What are the issues? What is the ethical problem? The issues: having to break the bad news to a patient regarding a malignant problem, having to leave the patient without treatment even when treatment is available, having to cause inconvenience to a patient because of legal obligations The ethical problem: Whether to be professional or human What are the alternatives?

The alternatives: either to make the patient anxious by disclosing that he has a serious health problem or to leave him to happy by not revealing the truth, either to inflict more suffering in the name of treatment or to allow him to die eventually, either to abide by the law or to respect the patient’s feelings What would you do? I would choose a middle path that considers the patient’s feelings, well-being as well as statutory requirements. How would you justify your choice? I am a human first and then a medical professional.

Whatever I do must not clash with my conscience and convictions. Reporting an STD: 1. (f) I would tell Jim that I would inform his problem to his wife not as gonorrhea but as a serious infection that could have been acquired accidentally. This would amount to taking advantage of her medical illiteracy, but that would be better than putting their marriage in jeopardy. I would eventually inform the Health Department that Jim and his wife have been given all necessary treatment. 2. (h) I feel I have an obligation not only to the state law but also to the patient’s right to confidentiality, though the former prevails over the latter.