Physicians are Flawed Heroes: Vulnerable to Human Imperfections The Father of Modern Medicine, William Osler, once stated “The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.” Could a famous physician be vulnerable as well to a doctor-patient relation? Nobody is impeccable and every person has their unique tragic flaws. It is widely known that computers calculate mathematical operations much faster than humans because they only have one job, justly, if physicians were not distracted and focused on one mission only: to rehabilitate their patient, the job would be completed much quicker and much more efficiently. “The District Doctor”, written by Ivan Turgenev, raises these moral issues to light, …show more content…
In the short story, doctor Ivanich, is not a wealthy man and seems to be looking to help the rich people, because of the higher payments. A prime example would be when the doctor addressed the coachman: “‘It is clear, my friend, these patients aren’t rolling in riches.’…You smile; but I tell you, a poor man like me has to take everything into consideration.” (Turgenev 129). Regardless of the expected payment of two silver roubles, the doctor knew that the poor villagers could also give him a roll of linen and a sack of oatmeal in payment. Throughout the whole story, doctor Ivanich, not being a wealthy man himself, seemed to always analyze his clients’ financial state before accepting to offer medical help. A doctor should never refuse help to a dying patient because of an imprudent reason such as, not seeming capable to pay enough money. A doctor that only accepts to help a rich patient is indeed a flawed hero, because he does not want the best for the society but only wants the best for himself; hence resulting the tragedy of the …show more content…
A physician must always do their best at improving the patient’s welfare, which can be achieved efficiently, if they hold all their feelings aside until the patient is fully rehabilitated. The relationship found in the short story, between Aleksandra Andreyevna and Trifon Ivanich is unethical. “Now…yes, now I can tell you that I thank you with my whole heart…that you are kind and good – that I love you!” (Turgenev 133). The affection of the doctor towards the patient might have influenced the final outcome of her welfare, as it is stated in the story that Aleksandra only took medicine from the doctor himself. Possibly the doctor gave her too little or too much medicine, the readers will never know, but the conclusion is the same: the medication did not work. If the doctor was not in love, perhaps he would have noticed that the prescriptions did not help and maybe he could have still saved the young woman. Therefore, doctors are defenceless against human sentiments, in Ivan Turgenev’s story, the sentiment is love. This a huge blemish for doctors and physicians, because a patient’s life is endangered whenever a patient’s treatment is interspersed with human
Along with no longer being a civilian, doctors carry a big responsibility of peoples lives and they make the critical decision if something goes wrong on the operating table. The major concern in the area of healthcare professionals is the downhill of human element towards a patient. From the start of the film we are introduced to Dr. Harvey Kelekian who is announcing “you have cancer” to Vivian Bearing, he makes use of complex medical terms to explain the diagnosis which would be very confusing for a person who did not study medicine. Dr. Kelekian did not seem to be very sincere in the process of explaining the diagnosis, rather he went fast and pushed her for only one option which is the aggressive treatment for the benefit of their knowledge. We are later introduced to Dr. Jason Posner who is an assistant to Dr. Kelekian and a former student of Vivian’s. During his interactions with Vivian, he acts very awkward and only focused on the research rather than how she was feeling. And we have nurse Monahan who sympathizes with the amount of pain that Vivian goes through during the whole treatment. Vivian is experiencing a change of power because when she was a professor she had the power but now the table is shifted and she venerable in the hospital
Even though this occurrence happened almost 70 years ago, the prevalent themes still exist today. The allure of pharmaceutical money and the use of drugs on patients, for instance, sway some doctors, even when they are unnecessary or, worse, harmful (Koch 1). Reading about Lacks, it is clearly recognizable how necessary it is to have a moral compass in a field that requires utter respect towards
In the article The Doctor Won’t See You Now by James Gorman, the author achieves his purpose of ridiculing the unethical functions of doctors during the aids epidemic by utilizing sarcastic language, negatively connotated diction, and vague supplication of details in his arguments. For example, after Gorman depicts the prevalence of doctors’ preferences of not treating certain patients, he makes the remark “ Smart thinking”. This sarcastic remark, similar to others within the text, is used in order to exhibit the author’s obvious feeling of anger toward physicians who act unprofessionally. Furthermore, his selection of vocabulary, such as “ slob”, “stupid”, and “pig-like,” forms offensive generalizations of people intended to demonstrate how
"Johns Hopkins patient safety experts have calculated that more than 250,000 deaths per year are due to medical error…" (John Hopkins Medicine). This soaring number has caused medical errors to become the third leading cause of death in the United States. For many people, medicine seems foreign and unknown. People who have lost loved ones due to medical error desperately look for a reason, and many times that blame falls upon doctors. Media has put a negative connotation on doctors as well, causing their reputation to plummet whenever a hospital procedure turns badly. A renown surgeon and author, Atul Gawande, uses his knowledge and experience to give people a new perspective on medicine. In the article "When Doctors Make Mistakes," Gawande uses rhetorical appeals: ethos, pathos, and logos to prove the need for a change in the medical systems and procedures. He analyzes how the public looks at doctors, giving a new perspective to enlighten the reader that even the best doctors can make mistakes.
Rarely any physician intends to harm patients when he or she provides treatment to them. Patients see physicians and specialists in full faith that they will get help with a condition. What complicates the patient-doctor relationship is that the outcome of each patient’s treatment is different because of individual health conditions and the course of treatment chosen by the doctor. Problems arise when a patient is not satisfied with care provided by the doctor or in extreme cases when a patient dies. Since most of the time it is hard to clearly determine whether the outcome was solely a result of the course of treatment chosen by the doctor or whether other factors played a role too, quite often patients take their
The story of Love Medicine revolves around a central character, June Kashpaw, and the many threads of relationships surrounding her, both near the time of her death, and in what has gone on before. The novel is an exploration of a family web that June was a key component of. Her character is a pivot point
Atul Gawande in his article “When the Doctor Makes Mistakes” exposes the mystery, uncertainty and fallibility of medicine in true stories that involve real patients. In a society where attorneys protect hospitals and physicians from zealous trials from clients following medical errors, doctors make mistakes is a testimony that Gawande a representative of other doctors speak openly about failures within the medical fields. In this article, Gawande exposes those errors with an intention of showing the entire society and specifically those within the medicine field that when errors are hidden, learning is squelched and those within the system are provided with an opportunity to continue committing the same errors. What you find when you critically analyse Gawande, “When Doctors Make Mistakes essay is how messy and uncertain medicine turns out to be. Throughout the entire article you experience the havoc within the medicine field as the inexperienced doctor misapplies a central line in a patient.
In the essay Defending My Life, author Geov Parrish tells the narrative of his personal experience with the medical field and healthcare industry regarding life-saving organ transplants in which he underwent. Throughout his narrative he brings up many key issues present in current day medicine that relate well to our BEST medical curriculum. The first issue involves behaviorial aspects of medicine and the importance of the patient’s perspective in care. The next issue involves the social and ethical dilemmas relating to the cost of healthcare and adequate access to proper care.
his or her patients feel better. However, there are cases where a doctor can only do so much.
The author describes medicalized mortality as the natural process of aging/dying that has been altered by medicine. People die in the hospital in the name of receiving treatment. Lives are prolonged using medicine & technology. By the use of medicine/technology to prolong life, we inflict more harm and suffering to people and deny them their comfort of dying naturally in their homes. The death of Ivan illustrates suffering. He described his situation as torture, only him will understands the kind of pain he goes through. The modern medicine failed him since his health professionals were unable to diagnose him, and was denied compassionate care. Ivan also described his situation as depressing; he continues to live in anguish and fear of death.
In the story, the narrator’s concerns are constantly being dismissed by her husband, John. Due to the fact that he is a man and a physician, he is held in high esteem within society; therefore, he
Doctors are not as a matter of course anticipated that would experience this expansive meaning of beneficence.an illustration is resuscitating a suffocating casualty. On the other hand, no-maleficence intends "no mischief." Physicians must avoid giving inadequate medications or acting with noxiousness toward patients. This standard, in any case, offers minimal helpful direction to doctors subsequent to numerous valuable treatments likewise have genuine dangers. The appropriate moral issue is whether the advantages exceed the weights. Doctors ought not to give insufficient medicines to patients as these offer danger with no probability of advantage and along these lines have a possibility of hurting patients (Gabaldón & Aguilera, 2008). Moreover, doctors should not do anything that would intentionally hurt patients without the activity being adjusted by relative advantage. Since numerous solutions, systems, and intercessions reason hurt notwithstanding advantage, the rule of non-perniciousness gives minimal solid direction under the watchful eye of patients. An illustration from my practice is halting a solution that is appeared to be destructive
From the story, William depicts the difficulties that people have towards separating their emotions and standards. The doctor’s behavior towards the girl and the young patient’s reaction emphasizes the subject of this discussion. However, the use of ethos, the narrator portrays his character as a credible doctor in the story. The character of both the patient and the doctor reveal a plausible issue comparable in real life. During this period there is and epidemic of diphtheria, which worsens the situation forcing the doctor to take aggressive measures in treating his patient. Revealed through his words, the doctor first tries kindness; “Awe, come on, I coaxed, just open your mouth wide and let me take a look.” (Williams, 1984) However, the reaction from the girl is repulsive, forcing the doctor to be firm. The young girl’s character shows the conflict of her role as a patient and that of her personality. This is revealed by the fact the she is spoiled and
The patient's idea of the physician is in contrast to the narcissistic patient's contempt, and disregard for the physician, who is keeping a sense of superiority over illness. Only the most senior physician in
In the world that we live in today, many people would find it difficult to imagine living in a world where medicine and treatment are not readily available. The replacement of religious explanations to medical and scientific explanations has become a means of social control. If a person is in pain, they can easily set up an appointment with a doctor and receive some sort of medical diagnosis. However, there are certain instances where a problem has not been medicalized, or recognized as a medical problem, and their issue will be dismissed completely. The movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest delves into the idea of medicalization and how it can be used for the good, or for the bad, in terms of the “sick role.” Medicalization in the