BRAGANZA, Anne Geleen L.

Medical Ethics
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself
in the service of others.” In a way, this is what healthcare providers are supposed to
do, that is, to devote themselves in transforming suffering. Healthcare providers play
an incredibly important role not only in actually providing healthcare services to
individuals and entire communities, but also in improving the quality thereof and
access thereto. Unlike in other useful occupations where only the liberty or only the
property of one is involved, in the medical profession, it is the life of which is at stake.
Healthcare professionals bear many responsibilities, and such responsibilities
are required to be done with more than just ordinary diligence. These include
providing medical advice to patients in order to prevent or alleviate illness, as well as
actually assisting the same with their medical needs. Such responsibilities must be
performed by medical professionals with competence, with compassion, and without
prejudice. To be able to truly serve patients, it is not enough to actually provide them
with what they need. It is also important that they be assured that they are being
given the healthcare services that they deserve. In line with this, medical
practitioners should value privacy and confidentiality. This, in effect, ensures that the
patients feel respected, thereby fostering trust.
Moreover, what makes the medical profession unique is that it involves the
healthcare professions having to put other people, that is, their patients, first. It is
driven by the urge to serve other people by making a positive impact in patients’
lives. Another distinctive quality of the profession is that it is continually expanding.
Thus, one’s knowledge must also follow suit, especially because work in the medical
field requires quick thinking. It entails rapid decision-making in matters that may or
may not be harmful. Furthermore, working in the medical profession is a great
sacrifice, not just because healthcare professionals are required to put other
people’s needs above their own, but also because it involves having to tackle great
conflicts that arise from differences in values and principles. This is where ethical
standards become an essential part in the practice of medicine. Ethical standards
guide healthcare professionals not only in telling them what they cannot do, but also
in confirming whether or not the things being done for the patients are really in their
best interest.
 Ethical standards do not just help with a medical professional’s decision-
making, it also helps build better relationships with patients and their families. Ethics
promotes trust and respect, both of which are essential to achieve good
communication between the patient and the professional. Once this is reached,
treating the patient becomes more probable. Likewise, if patients trust and respect
medical professionals, they are more likely to be compliant with orders and public
support for the medical field may increase. This in turn could increase the number of
patients availing of health-promoting services which may later on contribute to the
improvement of equipment and facilities. In short, conforming to ethical standards
can promote a better environment where patients and professionals can work
together to achieve better health.
As a medical student, I aspire to become a healthcare professional whom
patients fully trust. I want to be someone whom patients can easily confide their
feelings and worries in. I want to be able to give my future patients the impression
that I genuinely care for them, that I will not just dismiss outright their concerns no
matter how trivial they may be, that they are not alone in dealing with their medical
troubles, and that when all things eventually get well, they need not worry about
other people getting intrigued about what they went through. In short, I want to be
able to reassure them that my paramount concern is, and will always be, their well-
being and best interest.
Of course, in order to realize these aspirations, I must be able to transform
myself into someone who can perform the responsibilities of a healthcare
professional not only competently and willingly, but also ethically. Clearly, it is the
trinity of competence, willingness and ethics that makes an ideal healthcare
professional. Hence, not only should medical educational institutions be able to instill
medical knowledge in aspiring medical practitioners. It is equally important that
ethical standards be likewise inculcated in the minds of the country’s future medical
doctors and other healthcare providers.