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Fundamental Elements Of The Patient-Physician Relationship

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The Hippocratic Oath puts forth a set of moral codes that require the doctor to put aside their potential desire for being the smartest person in the room or the most successful surgeon, but instead to focus on getting that one patient that is in front of them better, and nothing else. This can be seen easily through the first set of statements in the oath. In a modern version of the oath provided by pbs.org, it is clear to see these set of moral codes, “I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk,” “I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required,” “I will not be ashamed to say ‘I know not,’ nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient’s recovery” (Lecture Notes) These three examples alone show, clearly, that the doctor is supposed to put aside everything and do everything that they can to heal the patient. These set of moral codes fit in well with the codes that apply to the power of the patient that are seen in “Fundamental Elements of the Patient-Physician Relationship.” In the “Fundamental Elements of the Patient-Physician Relationship” it is clear that although the operating room might be the domain where the doctor or surgeon feels like they are in charge, really, the patient s still in charge. The doctor or surgeon is really only a pawn that is used in whatever way the patient wants. Almost all of the decisions are still up to the patient, and

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