Professionalism and Humanism in the Practice of Medicine

•The modern focus on disease and the time and other pressures many physicians are under means that sometimes the patient can feel like they are on a treatment treadmill and not being listened to.

As health care providers, professionalism, respect and empathy should play an essential role in our daily routine. These core values allow us as health care providers to demonstrate understanding, compassion, and appreciation for our patients and their experiences. Utilizing these virtues will allow for an experience that will make the patient feel respected, valued and wanting to return.

According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (2017), professionalism is “the skill, good judgment, and polite behavior that is expected to do a job well.” Medical professionals must possess occupational competence, ethical excellence, and exemplary patient relations. Occupational competence encompasses more than just job knowledge. While being technically competent to perform all necessary job functions is vital, a commitment to continually improve is essential. With the rate of technological advancements in the medical profession, continued education is required to stay abreast of changes. Self-reflection is also important to know when and where personal improvement is needed. High ethical standards, including honesty, integrity, accountability,

Professionalism is an adherence to a set of values comprising both a formally agreed-upon code of conduct and the informal expectations of colleagues, clients and society. The key values include acting in a patient's interest, responsiveness to the health needs of society, maintaining the highest standards of excellence in the practice of medicine and in the generation and dissemination of knowledge. In addition to medical knowledge and skills, medical professionals should present psychosocial and humanistic qualities such as caring, empathy, humility and compassion, as well as social responsibility and sensitivity to people's culture and beliefs. All these qualities are expected of members of highly trained professions.

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,

Physicians must treat their patients compassionately, listen to their concerns, and act with a good bedside manner.

As a professional administering and delegating care to a patient you have a great responsibility to communicate with them. The world of healthcare is large and to the general public is utterly confusing. As the professional you need make the patient feel secure about the care they are receiving. It also lends itself to informing the families of the patient as well. If the patient is confused, it’ the job of the professional to be the teacher. It’s not enough for the information to be given, the information needs to be interpreted.

This essay will cover a definition of professionalism in general and in a health care setting, whilst also looking at what rights clients have in health care. We will be analysing how professionalism was used in the BBC Panorama documentary and how it should have been used to improve the service user’s experience. A key aspect is to identify and discuss what complex needs are and who had complex needs in the documentary. This essay will highlight how fundamental key policies are, like The Human Rights Act 1998 and The Care Quality Commission standards. Finally, we will be identifying how crucial it is to provide personal care to meet the needs of different individuals.

In the article Medical Professionalism in the New Millennium, by Sox, the author’s focus was on the three fundamentals and ten professional responsibilities that are bestowed on medical professionals today. These are principles and guidelines that we, as medical professionals, should consider and adhere to daily while performing our duties. Although all the points made in the article are important there are a few that can be incorporated into the Medical Laboratory Scientist’s everyday performance. In my opinion, these principles are improving quality care, patient confidentiality, scientific knowledge, professional competence, and professional responsibilities. In addition, I would incorporate always having the patient’s best interest at

Clinical reasoning can be best described by the process of collecting indications, processing, understand the problem or situation, plan and implement interventions, asses outcomes and learn reflect on the whole process (del Bueno, 2005). Positive outcomes of this process can be determined by an individual’s preconceptions, attitude, perspective and willingness (mentally and physically) (McCarthy, 2003). In a report by the clinical excellence commission of NSW Health they conclude that there are three explanations for negative patient outcomes in which are failure to correctly diagnose, failure to adequately implement appropriate treatment and inability to manage complications. In this essay the author will outline a situation in which they were involved in explaining the background of the situation, factors which influenced a clinical decision to be made whilst describing the clinical decision making process.

Feeling helpless and alone on a cold, rigid hospital bed, patients often look to their physician to provide them with solace and comfort, however, some unfortunate patients are faced with what the New York Times (2005) calls the “bane of the medical profession: the difficult doctor.” These physicians patronize their patients and speak to them condescendingly during their time of tribulation, and it has deep and intense repercussions for them. Not only is this incredibly unprofessional but it is not something a patient wants to hear when disclosing personal, intimate details of their life. Patient care and consideration does not stop when the surgery or procedure is over. The handling of an individual’s emotional state, post operation is just as important as the operation itself in the overall recovery of the patient. Patients leave angry, humiliated, and with more insecurities than they came in with. The analysis of the 1991 film The Doctor, starring William Hurt and Elizabeth Perkins, will consider appropriate health communication techniques that resonate well with patients. The film’s protagonist, Dr. Jack McKee, does not use suitable techniques that his patients appreciate. The first and second body paragraphs will investigate respectable socialization and strong patient-caregiver bonds and how they are pivotal to achieving solid results with patients. The third and final body paragraphs will examine what changes Dr. McKee makes to his practice that better reflect the

The field of medicine has transformed the lives of many people. Observing medical professionals in a clinical setting has shown me how helping patients manage their illness can be a very rewarding experience. Perhaps one of the greatest challenges doctors face is helping patients cope with an incurable illness. I see a doctor as a guide who shows a patient how to live through tough stages of life, one who prioritises patient safety and welfare.

Historically, medical professionals have held the public’s trust in healing and making them whole again. Even in times when one is not ill, we seek advice from doctors, nurses, and other healthcare entities to guide us in our mental, emotional, and physical health. Unfortunately, medical professionals have not always performed with their patient’s interest at heart. Throughout history and in modern times malpractice and negligence cases have plagued the healthcare industry. They continue to challenge the doctor-patient relationship as well as shape the future of medicine.

At fourteen, my world was turned upside down when my mother learned that she had breast cancer. Shock and worry consumed our family while she cried in my father’s arms. As humans, we naturally fear the unknown, and for us, this diagnosis presented just that. A couple of days later, the physician contacted her, but surprisingly, not to discuss treatment options. Instead, he apologized profusely and revealed her misdiagnosis. My perception of medicine until then had been strictly scientific, but my mother’s psychological state at that moment rattled my naïve conceptions and exposed its humanistic dimension.

One of the most perplexing aspects of the Shoah is the extent to which ordinary citizens participated in its execution. Particularly shocking is the degree of participation by the medical community, considering that doctors are specifically trained to do no harm. Nonetheless, hundreds of doctors contributed directly to Nazi cruelties, while thousands more acquiesced in passive silence. This raises troubling questions, such as how much responsibility the medical community ought to bear for the Shoah and the events that preceded it, and why so many physicians were willing to perform these cruel acts. I argue that the German medical profession played an indispensable role in both the causation and implementation of the mass atrocities