The Doctor-Patient Relationship

The doctor-patient relationship is one of many debates and change over the years. The reason it is so debatable, is that many people have different views on what this actual relationship should be, and how certain situations may cause questions in this relationship. Such questions could be, do I really want my doctor to make decisions for me, or I know my body the best, why should I not be able to make these decisions on my own, maybe a mixture of both. Either way this subject can be debatable on how the doctors and patients should go about these relationships. There are two models, in particular, out of four that have been deemed the models that doctors and patients should go by. These two, main models are, the interpretive model and the deliberative model.

The first model is the interpretative model, which in the doctor-patient relationship, is when a doctor reveals all medical information to the patient, then helps find out the patient’s values and desire, and finally the doctor counsels the patient into making a decision based on what is medically available and what the patient has for values and desires. In the article “Four Models of the Physician-Patient Relationship”, by Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, PhD, and Linda L. Emanuel, MD, PhD, which is an article stating four models of the patient and doctor relationship, and it describes these models, while also debating which model is best, the authors state that this model is like the Informative model which is when a doctor gives all the information to the patient and lets them decide what is best, except the doctor assist the patient on making a decision base on their values and desires. The authors go on to state that this model is based on the fact that the patient’s values ...

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...ns that if you are leaning one way they may just tell you how they feel and go in the direction you want, not argue until you change your mind.

To summarize this all up, the doctor-patient relationship is a complicated one. Many different outcomes of a case can come from the way a doctor acts in it. To say one model is better than the other, is really based on a patient’s personal preference. I feel the deliberative model is the best model, however, just because I feel this way does not mean that someone else does not feel the interpretative model is better.

Works Cited

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3. Gawande.'2002.'“Whose'Body'Is'it,'Anyway?”'Complications:0A0Surgeon's0Notes0

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