Abstract This paper is a report from a medical supply company regarding the responsibility of physicians who work in close association with pharmaceutical companies to put the well being of their patients at the forefront of their professional work. The paper states, that whilst cooperation between doctors and pharmaceutical companies is essential for the development of new treatments, the doctor's prime consideration is, and must always be, the well being of his patient. The writer states that there have been cases where doctors have put their association with a pharmaceutical company before the good of their patients but, in the vast majority of cases, the exact opposite is true.
From the Paper "There have been exceptions to the above, where physicians have, in the opinion of their peers, overstepped their boundaries and represented the medical suppliers' interest more than their patients or the value of their science. A recent case, involving Dr. Martin Leon of Columbia, was particularly egregious. Dr. Leon revealed evidence from a clinical trial prior to its 'unveiling' date, which caused a significant movement in the stocks of several medical device companies. The response of the medical community was immediate and severe. Dr. Leon was suspended from editorial boards of the Journal of the American Cardiology Society and the New England Journal of Medicine for at least five years (Wood 2007). Dr. Leon's reputation as a clinical trials clinical investigator and participant was therefore permanently disadvantaged."
Tags:doctors, pharmaceutical, medicine, research, clinical, FDA
Abstract This paper focuses on the doctor/patient communication. It speaks of the ideas of the past in relation to this issue and how they have affected modern day medicine. The writer discusses the problems that exist when patients attempt communication with doctors, as well as problems that physicians face when addressing patients' concerns. The writer further offers suggestions for improvement and professional advice for resolving issues.
From the Paper "Traditionally patients have been accustomed to trusting in the services of doctors, and in accepting only the information given during a consultation. In years past, (especially in the days of the town doctor who made house calls) doctors often provided patients with only the details that the doctor felt the patient needed to know. Specifics of illnesses (mostly terminal cases) were only verbally provided when the doctor decided that it was appropriate to do so. Although patients generally knew that this occurred, it appeared to be acceptable to the general population for many years. This is not to insist that patients demanded medical information. Many patients believed that to query a physician was to disrespect his or her profession. More often than not this resulted in patients needlessly suffering with illnesses that might have been detected if the lines of communication between doctors and patients had been more open."
Abstract In this article, the writer notes that an e-health doctor-patient relationship is formed when communication begins. The writer maintains that online communication between doctors and patients can save time, money and be very satisfying to both parties if the process is structured well. The writer looks at issues, such as e-mail communication viewed as "treatment" and medicine practiced online by physicians who communicate via the Internet with patients. This paper discusses some ethical issues focusing on online communication and the doctor-patient relationship. The writer concludes that health care providers who provide specific or personal medical care or advice online must practice the principle of professionalism and should abide by their ethical codes of their profession just as they do for face-to-face interactions.
Outline:
Reasons Consumers/Providers use the Web for Medical Information
e-Health Ethics Organizations
Three Types of Web Sites
The Doctor Patient Relationship and e-Health
Conclusions
From the Paper "A provider that responds to email may face ethical and legal obligation. When physicians provide telephone consultations payment does not seem to be a factor in a doctor-patient relationship, but payment of a fee for online education or advice may be seen as acceptance of a doctor-patient relationship
"An important issue for a physician to avoid is a patient claim of abandonment. There is a protocol that a physician must follow to successfully terminate the patient-doctor relationship. Abandonment is defined as the act of a physician terminating a relationship at an unreasonable time and without giving the patient the chance to find an equally qualified replacement."
Abstract This paper looks at John Updike's treatment of racism in his book, "The Doctor's Wife". The discussion between the doctor's wife and Ralph and Eve is examined, and examples from it are used to demonstrate the division between Caucasian Americans and African Americans. Also examined are the meanings associated with some of the symbolic words Updike uses in his story.
From the Paper "John Updike's short story "The Doctor's Wife", illustrates the division between African Americans and white people shortly after the end of segregation. In Updike's story, a doctor and his wife are visiting a family in the Caribbean. The doctor's wife carries on a conversation at the beach with a married couple, Ralph and Eve. The conversation between the couple and the doctor's wife is sought with powerful symbolism, which relates to racism. The use of the word white is consistently used throughout the short story to show superiority."
Tags: shark, housemaid, discrimination, superior, civil, rights, movement
Abstract This paper argues that, while patient and doctor confidentiality is an important medical ethic that serves an important function in increasing patients' trust in health care, it still must have limitations imposed upon it out of consideration for the issues of public health, such as when a doctor is treating a patient with a highly contagious disease.
From the Paper "The principle of patients' rights to privacy, or the ethical basis of patient and doctor confidentiality, has recently come under increasing threat. This principle states that a patient's medical records, including any conversations he might have had with his doctor, are confidential and private and regarded as so by the law. The defenders of this ethical and medical principle, such as Dodeck and Dodeck, authors of "From Hippocrates to Facsimile," argue that this principle is as old as medicine itself and is a "fundamental ethical principle since the Hippocratic Oath." More importantly, supporters of patient privacy rights argue that patient and doctor confidentiality is the basis upon which the medical practice is built (Dodeck and Dodeck). There is little doubt that this argument is partly right. The knowledge that whatever patients may reveal to their doctors is confidential, encourages patients to visit and confide in doctors. Naturally, this improves health care in society. However, others such as Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, an employee in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, contend that there are cases in which the consideration of whether society will benefit from, or be harmed by, the principle of privacy must be considered as a basis for violating privacy. While one may understand the importance of the principle of patient and doctor confidentiality and the positive contributions that it has made to the healthcare in societies, the fact is that the modern world is confronted by many deadly and easily spreading diseases such as AIDs or Ebola, making it important to redefine the concept of patient and doctor confidentiality as only applying in cases where there is no threat to public health or the life of another person. The Hippocratic Oath should not, and must not be used to protect the privacy of patients with deadly contagious diseases, allowing them to pose as a threat to the health and well-being of others, or the confidentiality of patients with criminal intents towards others and, therefore, needs to be redefine to permit doctors to report such cases to the proper health authorities thus, enabling doctors to fulfill their responsibilities towards their society."
Abstract This paper explains that doctor assisted suicide in the form of passive euthanasia should be legalized on the primary basis that human suffering should not be prolonged by medical science simply to extend physical life. The author stresses that terminally ill human beings have the inherent right to refuse medical treatment because they are the moral guardians of their own lives and the ultimate authority to be considered---not doctors, lawyers, insurance companies nor the government. The paper suggests that priorities have to be established in circumstances involving contending rights; in right-to-die issues, the highest priority should be the emotional, psychological and physical well-being of the person faced with inevitable death.
From the Paper "This moral argument offered by opponents of doctor assisted suicide is of particular interest, for many of these groups explicitly assert that morality includes physical causality and moral culpability. It holds that active euthanasia establishes the physical causality of the physician, while passive euthanasia establishes the physical causality of the disease itself. In other words, in active and passive euthanasia the moral culpability remains the same, that is, it is in the hands of the physician. This is the due to the fact that the physician has the duty and the moral obligation to keep the patient alive. While these two separate worlds within the moral realm may cross in some places, it does not mean that they are one and the same, and this is one of the many reasons that the distinction should not be abolished."
Abstract In the 21st century, James Bond has become synonymous with fast cars, stiff drinks, high stakes and beautiful women. He is the quintessential British hero - men want to be him, and women want to be with him. This paper looks at how upon closer examination of Ian Fleming's 1958 novel, "Doctor No", it appears that Bond is not the perfect embodiment of the Alpha Male as we have come to regard him. It discusses how "Doctor No" shows thinly veiled homosexual anxieties in the relationship between Bond and Honeychile Rider.
From the Paper "James Bond is illustrated as a product of the British Public School system. Tony Bennett and Janet Woolacott, writers of Bond and Beyond, determine this from 'Bond's relationship to M [which] carries with it some of the nuances of public school 'fagging', fear, respect and admiration.' Ian Fleming's own education at Eton hints at the source of homosexual anxieties implicit in Doctor No. In Hugo Williams' commentary on Fleming, Williams remembers his own Eton days, 'having to cook sausages over an open fireplace for some older boy.' This insinuation at the same sex domesticity between the boys at Eton - where the younger boy is presumably the wife, the older boy the husband - is rehearsed throughout Doctor No."
Abstract This paper looks at the core aspects of the patent doctor relationship. It shows how the better the relationship between the physician and the patient, in form of knowledge, mutual respect, trustworthiness, sharing of values and views about disease and life and time available, the better is the knowledge of the illness of the patient. This leads to an increase in the accuracy of diagnosis and also enhances the knowledge of the patient. Using the five essential factors determining effective physician-patient relationship presented by Earl Mgebroff in "The Physician-Patient Relationship - Perspectives after 40 Years of Family Practice" ("integrity, positivism, mutuality, constancy, and spirituality"), this paper confirms that the personal and professional integrity by the individual physicians is considered as the most important strategy to establish effective patient and doctor relationship.
From the Paper "A core aspect of the patent doctor relationship from physician's perspective is the facilitator of learning from the patient regarding his symptoms, concerns and values. With such facts the physician examines the patient, understands the symptoms and devises the diagnosis to represent the symptoms and their reasons to the patient and to advise a treatment. The doctor patient relationship from ethical perspective is explained in terms of the ways the objectives of beneficence, maleficence, autonomy and justice are accomplished. The degree of patient-doctor relationship is quite significant to both of them. The better relationship in form of knowledge, mutual respect, trustworthiness, sharing of values and views about disease and life and time available, the better is the knowledge of diseases of patient, increasing the accuracy of diagnosis and enhancing the knowledge of patient on the diseases. This entails a positive influence on the medical profession. (Medicine)"
Abstract This paper presents an application essay for a person applying to join a doctorate program in nursing. The applicant describes what nursing means to her and what she has done in the field of nursing since earning her associate's degree. The applicant describes her personal skills as they would benefit nursing and suggests how the doctorate program would be appropriate for her.
From the Paper "I believe that the Doctorate in Nursing program offers exciting opportunities in the field of nursing. I believe that attaining this degree will permit me to continue with the primary patient care in acute and critical care nursing that I enjoy, while allowing me to attain the advancement that I desire. I also believe that the enthusiasm that I bring to the field, as well as the experiences and the knowledge that I have spent twenty years attaining, make me a fine candidate for your program. I know that I can contribute to the field both as a student of, and as a graduate of, this doctorate program. Nursing is more than simply a career; it is a profession that allows me the ability to assist both patients and families through difficult and demanding times in their lives. This degree can only enhance my ability to further that aim."
Abstract This paper takes a look at the implementation of the Practice Doctorate in nursing by the year 2015. The paper asserts that this degree in nursing education is presently in a position to facilitate an extraordinary vision in advanced practice nursing. It holds that due to an increase in service demand, a growth in the complexity of care, ongoing incongruities in health care and changing demographics, there is a charge for health care reformation. The paper refers to several journal writings and commentaries that articulate the importance of health care workers who have better preparation both clinically and educationally. In conclusion, the paper claims that the Doctor of Nursing Practice will provide an elevated bridge between advanced practice nursing and research-based practice and will allow the graduates who matriculate to become empowered and armed with the knowledge base to implement change toward an evolving health care system.
From the Paper "The growing intricacies of health care, an exuberant growth in scientific knowledge, and increasing advancements in technology have necessitated master's degree programs that prepare advanced practice nurses to expand the number of academic and clinical clock hours significantly. From 1995 to 2000, the average quantity of semester credit hours required for the Nurse Practitioner master's degree remained constant, however, the academic and supervised clinical practice hours increased by 72 and 36 clock hours. Many Nurse Practitioner master's programs now exceed 60 credit hours. Most are not capable of being completed in less than three years time. Based on this information, two challenges are evident. "Master's prepared advanced practice nurses have identified additional knowledge that is required for a higher level of advanced and the time spent in master's level nursing education is not congruent with the degree earned"(Position Statement on the Practice Doctorate in Nursing, 2004 p. 7-8)."
Abstract This paper discusses the concept of humanism in Christopher Marlowe's play "Doctor Faustus" and explains that the central focus of humanism is presented in the combination of Faustus' pride, arrogance and never-ending ambition. The paper points out that, because of Faustus' desire to be more powerful than any other man, he pursues the forbidden attainment of the black arts even though the consequences mean perishing in hell. The paper concludes that the text of Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus" clearly shows that wrongful pride always comes before a fall. Moreover, this character's fall is perpetual, horrifying damnation.
From the Paper "The power of rule is too intoxicating as Faustus ignores the forbidden aspect of dabbling in black magic and through his Latin invocations, begins the process of turning away from the living God to take power instead from the dark god, Lucifer. His faith in this magic is so strong, he thinks he can even make demands of Mephistopheles. But this is Lucifer's agent and he lets the Doctor know that he himself is governed by the higher-ranking devil: "I am a servant to great Lucifer, / And may not follow thee without his leave." "
Tags: ambition soul, black magic, mephistopheles bride
Abstract This paper discusses the issue of whether doctors should tell the truth to their patients. First, the paper explains the American Medical Association's (AMA) principles of medical ethics regarding the issue. Next, the paper discusses the line between the truth and a lie and to what extent a doctor can withhold information or soften the truth. The paper then presents a case study that examines the issue and discusses the writer's personal opinion on the matter.
From the Paper "With medical advances happening at lightening speed, choices like this will become more and more common. Truth is always the best option, but waking someone up to tell him/her that he/she is dying and that death will happen quickly seems inhumane to me. No matter that they are in some ways making the decision for her, they should also be shielding her from the pain of her choices by not waking her up. Patients would obviously prefer the autonomy of making their own medical decisions; this is just sometimes not possible. At least it is not possible without causing further stress and pain and anguish. Caregivers need to also think about compassion and sensitivity."
Abstract This paper looks at the big themes in H.G. Wells' "The Island of Doctor Moreau" which diametrically oppose each other: the theories of existence (i.e. evolution and religion), and the cruelty and need for dominion that man exhibits towards animals, and ultimately the question of the meaning of it all that Wells poses to his readers.
From the Paper "Prendick's first encounter with the creatures of the island is when the ship rescues him. His impression of M'ling is that he is a "misshapen man", and although M'ling turns from Prendick with "animal swiftness", he still refers to him as a man. He considers M?ling a person with animal-like qualities, rather than the other way around. The captain of the ship is called a "brute". His drunken, hostile behavior towards all on-board is construed as beastly. Without provocation, he batters M'ling, who accepts the abuse and does not retaliate. His spirit has been broken like a whipped dog. Wells draws an image here of man against beast, with man being the aggressor, and the beast being the submissive party. Man's attempt at controlling nature through violence and carnage is noted immediately. Ironically, the so-called less civilized creatures are more refined. M'ling conducts himself passively, while the captain behaves barbarously. The two species inter-relate, and the reader sees a bit of beast in the man, and some of man in the beast."
Abstract The paper shows how the play "Doctor Faustus" and the movie "The Devil's Advocate" both deal with similar themes including the struggle between good and evil and how the seven deadly sins can corrupt. It shows how, in each of the works, vanity is the primary sin that leads each character into evil. While this does create an overall similarity in theme, there are also some important differences between each work.
From the Paper "Faustus chooses to sign a pact with the devil because of his need to succeed. Faustus seeks power, imagining in the opening scenes that he will have wealth and have the ability to remake Europe and change the world. It is not only ambition that drives Faustus, it is also a belief that he knows better than everyone. Faustus refuses to accept anything he has studied, as these things are just the works of others, instead he believes that only what he has to offer is worth anything. This is how Faustus's pride appears in the play, in his belief in his own self-importance and his ambition to realize this importance. It is these qualities that allow him to reject God in the first place. While he is aware of the consequences, his excessive vanity causes him to believe that somehow he will be excused from the rules of God. This same vanity is also the downfall of Lomax in The Devil's Advocate."
Abstract In this paper, the writer carefully outlined the steps necessary to take in order to become a doctor. The paper starts with high school and follows each step through getting a medical license. It includes several tips to make it through as easily as possible and to figuring out whether medicine is the proper career choice. The writer weighs the work necessary with the outlook on salaries and the psychological rewards.
From the Paper "A famous Chinese proverb says that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The same can be said for the road to entering a medical career. Medicine can be defined as the branch of the science of diagnosing, treating, or preventing disease and other damage to the body or mind, which encompasses treatment by drugs, diet, exercise, and other nonsurgical means. (Webster?s) In order to become a physician, one must complete a long list of requirements that starts in high school and college, then progresses through medical school, residency, and finally ends with acquiring a medical license. Though entering the world of medicine is a long and arduous task, the tangible and intellectual rewards far outweigh the sacrifices made along the way."
