Physician Misconceptions

A physician, just like the healers of the past, are concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the treatment of disease, injury, and other physical and mental impairments. Similarities still exist in that the medical practice properly requires both a detailed knowledge of the academic science based disciplines underlying diseases and their treatment – the science of medicine – and also a decent competence in its applied practice – the art or craft of medicine.

All too often in regards to medical treatment, physicians are taught everything known about the scientific approaches to disease but still fail to realize the important details of how the disease impacts the individual. Many physicians do not show empathy to their patients and instead just focus on the current diagnosis and the probable outcome. This creates a divide between patient and provider and can even lead to negative feelings of the patient that far outweigh the diagnosis itself. A feeling of hopelessness and despair may accompany the empty feeling that comes with failing to explore the patient’s perspective on care. In this essay, Parrish states,

Open mindedness, a calm demeanor and empathy are key qualities that all physicians share and are strong components that go towards helping others control and overcome sickness. I want to be able to lend a helping hand to anybody regardless of sex, gender, race, age, or health status. True satisifaction is knowing that I was able to positively impact somebody's day or life. Physicians are advocates for public health issues and play a strong public role in the community. I look forward to participating in the community and along the way gaining the trust and developing strong relationships with my coworkers, patients and members of the surrounding

“The only appropriate and realistic model of the Dr.‐patient relationship is paternalism. Doctors are the medical experts; most patients have little, if any, reliable medical knowledge; implicit trust in one’s physician is essential to the healing process; and doctors have the responsibility for our health and therefore have the duty to make all the important medical decisions.” Critically assess that claim.

Presence of a Duty of care: Physicians have a responsibility to treat people in a medically- appropriate manner.

The video presented the ethics and boundaries and factors that affect those boundaries such as addiction, abuse, absent role models, and patients assuming the professional shares the same feelings as he or she does. Then the video discusses issues the doctor may incur such as “special treatment” of patients, time management, poor awareness of feelings, and the response to the patient.

Samuel Hahnemann once said “The physician's highest calling, his only calling, is to make sick people healthy to heal, as it is termed.” Over multiple years of being posed the question “What do you want to be when you grow up? I have come to the conclusion that I want to become a physician or at least I think I do. Who wouldn’t want to help save lives? As a physician, I am presented with the opportunity to help better communities all around the world for the rest of my life. I always wanted to try to make a difference that people would appreciate. As I researched this profession, I discovered that because of physicians and their ability to use medical science, the life expectancy in the United States has more than doubled between 1990-2013

Physicians are essential in the medical field, able to take care of you and make sure that you’re healthy is what makes them vital.

Mistakes happen everyday. The good thing about mistakes is you can usually fix them with a few simple steps. When making an error in a patients chart it needs to be corrected as soon as it is noticed.The right way to correct a mistake is to cross it out with a single line, in black pen, and write your initials next to it. A good thing to get in the routine of is double checking your work while your still in the room with the patient. You shouldn't use white out on a medical document. If an error is noticed late I think you should inform the doctor before they enter the patients room.

The main features of the model are that physicians diagnosed problems and suggested treatments, led the healthcare system, received fee-for-service payments from providers, and hospitals reimbursed their medical expenses. The model made physician-patient relationships a system of trust in compassion, control, and competence. Physicians’ compassion in their care for their patients is crucial because it creates a strong interpersonal patient-physician relationship. Control is evident due to the fact that primary practitioners are the “captain of the ship” where they diagnose patients, give referrals to specialists, and prescribe medication, among other things. They are central and autonomous in making all medical decisions. Competence in physician’s practices such as providing professional advisory to patients ensures quality of care. However, this “trust” creates many issues for the patient. Patients’ doubts or mistrust often stems from situations wherein they were denied complete access to information, or if they were not fully informed by their physician on all of the benefits, risks and costs of various treatments. It is every patient’s right to have the power to make a medical decision, regardless of their physician’s viewpoint; patients should also be informed of whether their physician might have any personal conflicts of interest or qualms about a certain healthcare route. Trust between the physician and the

Physicians are highly educated individuals, who hold a respectable status in the society. However, this highly regarded status has often created an image of perfection in the eyes of the public. People often fail to realize there is numerous factors can affect physicians as much as everyone else. Ironically, they often treat patients under psychological stresses that they possessed themselves. Doctors were often taught to uphold their professionalism and learn to put off their personal struggles in the environment of patient care. Consequently, the invisible armors they wear everyday might often conceal their awareness and consciousness of their own matters that could adversely

While volunteering at a small health center in Dorchester, I realized the shortage of doctors working in Internal Medicine at community health clinics. I witnessed how well the health care staff handled patients with ailments exacerbated by a lack of regular preventative care. After completing a residency in general Internal Medicine, I wish to serve in an under-served community as I believe that a doctor, apart from prescribing medicines, should also care equally about a patient’s social well-being.

When it comes down to it doctors do not receive the adequate education, they are not personable, and they are most certainly not honest with their patients 24/7. They may have good qualities, but not enough of them. In the patient’s eyes the doctor is a stranger, and to promote health care the patient needs someone they can trust and talk to.

Throughout my life, I have experienced many medical hardships in my own medical history. Around the age of 10 years, I developed seizures which took over my life for about two years and hospitalized me almost every day of those years. The frustration of dealing with some of the medical professionals that were involved in my care drove me to a desire to care for others in a manner that was indifferent and did not matter what a previous diagnosis labeled a patient. I found a challenge in my medical history of a lack of communication between the doctor and the patient, I also found that if a physician didn’t know the cause, they just labeled you by the books instead of taking time to find out what truly was going on. I think the biggest thing

With the onset of current technological innovations as well as new modern developments in the health care world, the traditional relationship doctors once had with their patients has evolved dramatically. Instead of strictly focusing on the well-being of their patients, doctors now more than ever have additional roles in the health care world, from advancing patient care outside of the hospital, to becoming more informed of the for profit clinics that are readily increasing in numbers across the country. Doctors are continually trying to increase their productivity while accepting these additional roles. This expansion of the doctor’s roles has led to the decrease in effectiveness in the connection with patients. Long gone are the days in which doctors took the appropriate amount of time to nurture the intimate and sacred relationship they had with their patients. Instead, doctors rush to see as many patients as possible a day, sacrificing quality of care. Currently, doctors are spread too thinly and are slowly dissolving the trust of patients. The unfortunate shift of the doctor patient relationship in today’s society is undeniably devastating with the accumulation of these changes.