Overall, medical practice is performed when physicians identify health concerns, including diseases, mental disorders, and physical injuries, and provide a treatment for their patients in order to properly cure them of their maladies. The appropriate basis for medical practice is a combination of physicians’ knowledge acquired from scientific research and education, and ethical considerations regarding the wellbeing of patients. Additionally, if no scientific support is available, patients must rely on intuition and experience in order to make a proper diagnosis.
On the whole, science plays a major role in the realm of medicine, as it is the foundation for the creation of new treatments and education. Science is defined as “…research firmly based upon one or more past scientific achievements, achievements that some particular scientific community acknowledges for a time as supplying the foundation for its further practice” (Kuhn 70). The aspect of scientific research is important because as more diseases and medical conditions become recognized, scientists need to discover possible cures and develop medicine in order for physicians to treat their patients. For example, in A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness, neuroscientist V.S. Ramachandran recounts how patients with “reflex sympathetic dystrophy”, also known as RSD, were research subjects in a scientific experiment to discover if there was a way to cure their unremitting pain (17). As a result of this experiment, a new and effective treatment for those in chronic pain was determined once it was discovered that the patients’ pain went away completely and mobility returned to limbs when mirrors were utilized (18). Through science, the answer to how physicians may prescribe a trea...
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...per medical treatment. V.S. Ramachandran states that “randomized, controlled trial research do not make clinical decisions for physicians; rather, they must be applied to individual patients and clinical situations based on value judgments, both by physicians and patients. Clinical decision-making must entail value judgments about the costs and benefits of available treatments” (91). A patient can practice medicine by deciding whether a certain treatment option is right for him or her. For example, an individual might choose to take medication instead of having surgery because of monetary costs, or decide which prescription drug to take based on the potential side effects. Overall, though a physician may advise an individual on a certain treatment to cure him or her of a medical concern, it is ultimately the patients’ decision on whether or not to carry it out.
Truth in medicine is a big discussion among many medical professionals about how doctors handle the truth. Truth to a patient can be presented in many ways and different doctors have different ways of handling it. Many often believe that patient’s being fully aware of their health; such as a bad diagnosis, could lead to depression compared to not knowing the diagnosis. In today’s society doctor’s are expected to deliver patient’s the whole truth in order for patients to actively make their own health decisions. Shelly K. Schwartz discusses the truth in her essay, Is It Ever Ok to Lie to Patients?. Schwartz argument is that patients should be told the truth about their health and presented and addressed in a way most comfortable to the patient.
It is essential that when using evidence-based practice guidelines to choose a treatment, that variety of research methods are applied so that the best relevant data can be produced. Such methods include qualitative/quantitative research, randomised controlled trials and systematic reviews. Both qualitative and quantative methods produce valuable data. Quantative research produces numeric evidence that is necessary for practice and can be measured and qualitative research produces descriptive data about the subject by using patients views etc. which can also be applied to clinical practice (Broeder et al, 2010)
The term biomedicine is used to describe scientific medicine which is prominent in Western societies. To get a better grasp of this concept, Baronov (2008) presented the following interrelated views which account for biomedicine’s ongoing development. Fi...
medical practices are beneficial; they are done to cure people from illness and to save
Providers must act in the best interest of the patient and their basic obligation is to do no harm and work for the public’s wellbeing. A physician shall always keep in mind the obligation of preserving human life. Providers must communicate full, accurate and unbiased information so patients can make informed decisions about their health care. As a result of their recommendations, providers are responsible for generating costs in health care but do not generate the need for those expenses. Every hospital has both an ethical as well as a legal responsibility to provide care, even if the care may be uncompensated.
With the high degree of variations in health care, patients can be under or over treated or even treated with the wrong treatment for their illness. These unwarranted care techniques can be categorized into three different situations. The first category of unwarranted care is the use of evidence or lack thereof, based on other medical care. The way to explain this category is that a care plan for a patient is proven effective without any proof as to why. The example given by Kongstvedt (2007) is the use of beta blockers post heart attack. Beta blockers prove to be effective in nearly one h...
In conclusion, every patient is worried about their rights to care but not so much are focused on the rights of the physicians providing the care. It is hard to establish a respectable practice if you are required to perform care for instances in which you object or do not want to be a part of. This detracts from the ethical background of practice and procedure every physician should hold to the highest standard.
Traditionally, the physician was expected to use all of their talents and training in an effort to save the life of their patient, no matter the odds. More recently, the physician’s role has been redefined to preserve the autonomy of the patient. Now physicians must give life saving care only in so far and to the degree desirous of the competent patient.
...ally based on cost-effective measures. Treatment for a patient’s health should not be decided by the government.
... a health problem, incorrect supervision of medication to a patient, faulty or sub-standard performance of a diagnosis, surgery, or any other type of procedure, inadequate use of medical tools and instruments and devices and their lack of maintenance, and negligence towards patient records, test results, or any other kind of documentation (Goguen). Although, the list of problems and causes of medical malpractice seems rather endless and long, it can be cut short. Some ways to prevent and avoid malpractice or medical error is to be aware and involved. A doctor can take note of their patient and their medical history. A patient can be aware of their surroundings and the treatment that they are receiving. A patient’s safety should be a doctor’s primary concern, because it is their responsibility to tend to patients needs and to assist them to a proper nourished life.
Ethics in the medical field are very important and should be taken seriously. As a medical professional you will tested daily on making the best choices, using good judgment and being morally responsible for your actions. There are nine principles in the Code of Medical Ethics that in general make up the primary code. As a medical professional you must always consider what is in the best interest of the patient. Code of medical ethics of the American Medical Association, (2012). When determining the proper “Patient-Physician Relationship, the relationship between the patient and physician is based on trust and gives rise to the physicians’ ethical obligations to place a patients’ welfare above their own self-interest” Code of medical ethics of the American Medical Association, (2012).
The next stage is for the team to jointly develop an evidence-based practice standard based on the information compiled during the research process (Doody & Doody, 2011). An important concept of evidence-based practice as pointed out by Doody & Doody (2011) is the involvement of the patient in the development of new standards. The developed standard should apply to the research topic that is being addressed, however; it should also be modified from person to person based on morals and values for the standard to truly be evidence-based (Doody & Doody,
Primary health care is the indispensable care based on the real – world, systematically sound, socially adequate technique and technology which made unanimously available to the families and every individuals in the community through their fully involvement where the community is capable to afford at a cost to uphold at every phase of their growth in the essence of self-reliance and self-government. Primary health care in international health is associated with the global conference held at Alma Ata in 1978; the conference that promoted the initiative health for all by the year 2000. “Primary health care defined broadly at Alma Ata emphasized universal health care across to all individuals and families , encouraged participation by community members in all aspects of health care planning and implementation and promoted the delivery of care that would be scientifically sound , technically effective , socially relevant and acceptable” (Janice E.Hitchcock,2003). Primary health care is commonly viewed as a level of care or as the entry point to the health care system for its client. It can also taken to mean a particular approach to care which is concerned with containing care, accessibility, community involvement and collaboration between other sectors. The primary health care policy has some principals that have been designed to work together and be implemented simultaneously to bring about a better health outcome for the entire society.
The physician inquires about how the patient is and begins the process of finding out what is wrong with the patient. The first thing that the doctor does is to put the patient at ease and to make them as comfortable as possible. The physician should begin the conversation with an open – ended question, such as, “How are you feeling”. The physician then encourages the patient to mention all of the ailments that they are experiencing. This is when the physician can learn the most about the patient’s personality and environmental influences. It is important for the doctor to be attentive and take good notes. The doctor explores in great detail the time of the ailments and the severity. The physician inquires about the patient’s past health and any family history that is of relevance. The physician then checks the accuracy of all the data and details collected to date and informs the patient of the next step in the process, the diagnosis. It is important that the patient does most of the talking throughout the interview, so that the doctor can elicit all...
According to Foucault and Illich (in Van Krieken et al. 2006: 351-352), doctors and the medical profession have traditionally been empowered by their knowledge as the authority that society defers to with regards to the definition of disease and health. With improvements in medical technology as well as the advent of the hospital, an evolution...