Our Sermo Physician Poll this week weighs the balance of ethical decisions with medical decisions when it comes to being a doctor.
We asked two tandem questions:
- Have you ever made an ethical decision that went against your medical gut?
- Have you ever made a medical decision that went against your ethical judgment?
The results:
- 39% answered no to both
- 33% answered yes to both
- 15% Yes to an ethical decision that went against medical instinct
- 13% Yes to a medical decision that went against personal or professional ethics
Our physicians discuss ethical/medical challenges
Our doctors regularly discuss ethical dilemmas onsite and this poll sparked debate. One physician mentioned that when ethics are involved it is best to involve the patient and their family so they can help make decisions, other doctors had more to say.
“I have done some things because the family wanted them done, even though I was fair-to-mostly sure the patient would not want them,” a family practitioner noted.
One surgeon added, “I am often asked to do heroic attempts at futile interventions (it‘s the only hope) or worse yet, large painful interventions that only prolong suffering. I find I am often the first one to really explain the grave situations to patients and family. Once you explain that the best outcome of the heroic operation is a slower more painful, yet inevitable death, people often choose comfort care.”
Ethics and medical dilemmas arise frequently with end-of-life decisions. To get some insight into a medical mind read, “how doctors die.”
Is Medical Ethics Evolving?
While medical ethics are very narrowly defined in daily practice there are constant challenges to those old medical school classes. Sermo will be exploring this in detail. We will soon announce an Ethics Columnist who will explore situations, big and small that doctors encounter regularly. As an M.D. or D.O. have you been faced with an ethical/medical conflict during your career? How did you resolve it? We welcome physicians in our community where we discuss the clinical and practice management issues of the day. Please join us.
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