Autonomy In Health Care

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Pages: 4

Simultaneously, “just as there is an art to being a doctor, there is an art to being a patient” (complications), and while I want to be on the frontline asserting commands to ensuring the treatment of the patient, there will be moments when I have to choose wisely and submit to the autonomy of the patient. That in itself is protecting the patient at the frontline because simply treating the disease is not what medicine is truly about. In fact, being a doctor means providing the best judgement when healing the sick, convenience, comfort, and refraining from committing any wrong acts of falsehood(hippo). By allowing patients to voice their own decisions, it establishes a trust that is essential to the intimate nature of the doctor-patient relationship …show more content…
Through shadowing, I have witnessed doctors employing both methods where they gauge their patients emotions and competence on their own health, and strategically maneuver the course of action from the initial moments. Each consultation differed. Patients well-versed in their own history of health, many of which were in the health care industry themselves, were consistently interactive, questioning their symptoms, and the diagnosis that followed. It was with these types of patients that the doctors I have shadowed were more open to working with, forming connections with patients and becoming less out of reach in the sense of authority. It was also the type of doctor-patient relationship I currently seek to emulate now as a patient and in the future as a physician since I am a big proponent of collaboration that challenges me to think more deeply about every angle brought …show more content…
Frequently, patients who visited the emergency room came symptoms that they may have described in over exaggerated worries, and while at times, justifiable, served to punctuate the need to properly educate the community in regards to their engagement towards their own health. It was during these moments, the doctor had to take a more authoritative role, and paternalism (SOURCE-ackerman) seemed to be more prominent. This may have been driven by the instilled ethical duty of physicians to ensure that the needed care of patients is met (bigotry). However, at times, these visits to the emergency room for simple diagnoses that result in high costs could have been avoided by devising ways to educate and encourage engagement from the public (dying in america). Semantically, it seems simple, but considering the overall jagged state of the American health care system, where the high costs of medical treatment deter many away, providing the right solutions right now proves difficult. The issue of the lack of knowledge Americans have in regards to their choices, and the failure of the health community and other leaders to make the knowledge readily available and meaningful across the nation prevails (DIA). It is a challenge I want to partake in finding a solution to, but with my current limited knowledge on the intricate workings of the health care policy, it appears as a daunting obstacle that I currently cannot