Discussion 3: The Ethics of Medicine

What does it mean to be a medical professional?
There are many different aspects to being a medical professional. One of the most important is providing quality care to patients. This means having the knowledge and skills necessary to diagnose and treat illnesses and injuries correctly. It also means maintaining confidentiality, respecting patient autonomy, and keeping up-to-date on new developments in medicine.

What ethics do you feel you need to follow to be a good medical professional?
Every medical professional should adhere to several ethical standards. These include justice, autonomy, non-maleficence (doing no damage), beneficence (doing good), and non-maleficence (avoiding harm) (treating patients fairly). Medical practitioners also have a responsibility to behave unbiasedly and preserve the privacy of their patient's information.

Think of a scenario that would challenge your professional ethics. What might it be? How do you think you would deal with the situation?
One scenario that would challenge my professional ethics is if a patient asked me to withhold information about their diagnosis from their family members. I would have to respect the patient's wishes while also trying to ensure that their family had the information they needed to provide support. This would be a difficult situation to navigate, but I would ultimately defer to the patient.