REMINDER: I AM POSTING A NEW TOPIC ABOUT ONCE A WEEK OR PERHAPS TWICE A WEEK. HOWEVER, IF YOU DON'T FIND A NEW TOPIC POSTED, THERE ARE AS OF MAY 2009 700 TOPIC THREADS TO WHICH YOU CAN READ AND WRITE COMMENTS. I WILL BE AWARE OF EACH COMMENTARY AND MAY COME BACK WITH A REPLY.
TO FIND A TOPIC OF INTEREST TO YOU ON THIS BLOG, SIMPLY TYPE IN THE NAME OR WORDS RELATED TO THE TOPIC IN THE FIELD IN THE LEFT HAND SIDE AT TOP OF THE PAGE AND THEN CLICK ON “SEARCH BLOG”. WITH WELL OVER 700 TOPICS, MOST ABOUT GENERAL OR SPECIFIC ETHICAL ISSUES BUT NOT NECESSARILY RELATED TO ANY SPECIFIC DATE OR EVENT, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIND WHAT YOU WANT. IF YOU DON’T PLEASE WRITE TO ME ON THE FEEDBACK THREAD OR BY E-MAIL DoktorMo@aol.com
IMPORTANT REQUEST TO ALL WHO COMMENT ON THIS BLOG: ALL COMMENTERS WHO WISH TO SIGN ON AS ANONYMOUS NEVERTHELESS PLEASE SIGN OFF AT THE END OF YOUR COMMENTS WITH A CONSISTENT PSEUDONYM NAME OR SOME INITIALS TO HELP MAINTAIN CONTINUITY AND NOT REQUIRE RESPONDERS TO LOOK UP THE DATE AND TIME OF THE POSTING TO DEFINE WHICH ANONYMOUS SAID WHAT. Thanks. ..Maurice
FEEDBACK,FEEDBACK,FEEDBACK! WRITE YOUR FEEDBACK ABOUT THIS BLOG, WHAT IS GOOD, POOR AND CONSTRUCTIVE SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT TO THIS FEEDBACK THREAD
ETHICAL ISSUE OF THE MONTH
At this location, I provide a link each month to some ethical issue which I posted on this blog in the past and one which I think would be worthy of revisiting, review and adding further comments.
..Maurice.
THIS MONTH: Disability Rights Groups: Sacrificing the Individual for the Agenda?
I AM NOW ON GOOGLE KNOL READY TO ANSWER YOUR ETHICAL QUESTIONS. CLICK ON THIS LINK TO GO THERE.
The Fear of the Unexpected and Unexplainable
A cough,
A lump,
A fever,
A pain,
A weakness…
…a visit to the doctor not for a scheduled routine physical but for the unexpected, unexplainable new symptom. This time the initial handshake by the patient is tentative and questioning: “Does this doctor have the strength, the grip on knowledge and experience to find out what is the matter with me?” And then the question: “But also do I have the strength to accept the doctor’s diagnosis and outcome of my illness?”
Behind these questions, the patient holds the emotional burdens of uncertainty, apprehension, anxiety and anguish. It is all about the fear of the unknown and, whether realistically based or not, the unknown is anticipated by the patient as life threatening or impairing their quality of life.
The duty of the physician is to not only make the diagnosis and establish the treatment but also to treat the patient’s emotional burdens. There is a need for the doctor first to recognize that these burdens exist within the patient. Part of the approach would be to make the diagnosis quickly, if that is possible, but beyond that, what else should the doctor do? I look to my visitors to give us their personal experience and insight of how their physician dealt with the issue of the unknown diagnosis and the anxious patient. ..Maurice.
(The photograph, taken by me today, is from the statuaries within the garden of the Getty Villa, Malibu, California.)
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