Introduction To Medical Ethics: Patient's Interest First (2nd Edition)

Patient's Interest First

Arthur S M Lim

• Publisher: WSPC
• Year: 2007
• ISBN:
  9789812793058
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Ciencias biológicas
• Subtopic: Ciencias en general

Throughout history, men have repeatedly made judgments regarding their own conduct and that of their fellow men. Some acts have been judged to be right or good, while other acts have been denounced as wrong or evil. Ethical judgment in medicine, as in other areas of life, is an attempt to distinguish between good and bad conduct.This book is based on three lectures given by the author as the Medical Director of Eye Clinic Singapura International. The first lecture was an address delivered to medical undergraduates at the National University of Singapore in 1975. The second was a Commonwealth Medical Association lecture delivered a decade ago. The third was a Singapore Medical Association lecture delivered in 1981. This volume, emphasizing the principles of medical ethics, has been kept simple and brief, and it is hoped that it will make interesting reading for both medical professionals and the general public.

Table of contents

• Preface
• Introduction
• History
• What makes a good doctor?
• A doctor does not only deliver quality care – he promotes excellence.
• When I was a medical student,
• The changes are necessary because we have become wealthier, our patients more demanding.
• What of medicine in Singapore?
• Today, we have to stay competitive.
• How is an excellent reputation created? How do we recognize medical excellence?
• Experience would mean that doctors need to follow a good leader, a good doctor or a good surgeon, and to follow him through 10, 20 or 100 procedures.
• It is important to know values.
• New technology, which is essential for advancement, will continue to be introduced in Singapore. This is exciting — doing lung operations through 2 cm incisions, taking out the gall bladder with small incisions. However, we have to be careful and evaluate the outcome.
• A good doctor must know that before he carries out any procedure, the age-old medical adage must prevail: “First of all, do no harm.”
• A good doctor must maintain healthy relationships with his colleagues, his patients and the society in which he lives and serves.
• Respecting their teachers and acknowledging and praising the excellence of their colleagues are issues doctors should address.
• In ancient society, the doctor was regarded as a supernatural figure as he grappled with the serious and mysterious forces of disease and health.
• I have already explained that it is most important to ensure that the patient’s interest is foremost.
• No government will take a doctor seriously if he is only interested in his own welfare and disregards the interest of society. We must remember that the medical profession, although important, represents only a small part of the multitude of the problems that a nation faces.
• Some important current issues of medical ethics: It would be wise for doctors not to ignore the national problem of costs for good health care. It is clear that in our inflationary society with an aging population, costs will spiral.
• The medical professions in several countries generated considerable controversy when they liberalized advertisement.
• There are of course problems. Who decides? Who can advertise? In what way? How often? What if the statements are untrue?
• In conclusion, I must again emphasize that above anything else, the ethical principle which holds that the patient’s interest must always be foremost should be upheld as the chief consideration in the doctor’s relationship with his patients.