Setting the Stage Flashcards
Personal Morals
Define one’s personal character
The fabric of who you are
Professional Ethics
Social System in which morals are applied
Standards or codes of behavior expected by a group to which one belongs
Rules or principles/ways of thinking that guide actions
What are the first four goals of medicine?
Promotion of health/disease prevention
Maintenance/improvement of quality of life
Cure of disease
Prevention of untimely death
What are the second four goals of medicine?
Improvement of functional status/maintenance of compromised status
Education/counseling regarding condition/prognosis
Avoidance of harm to patient in course of care
Providing relief and support near time of death
Classify these as either Medical, Ethical, or Legal questions: Should we? Do we have to? Can we? Are we prohibited from?
Should we? (Ethical)
Do we have to? (Legal)
Can we? (Medical)
Are we prohibited from? (Legal)
Codes of Ethics
Professional Organizations
Summarize principles and behavior expected by all members of a discipline
Osteopathic Pledge of Commitment
I pledge to:
Provide compassionate, quality care to my patients;
Partner with them to promote health;
Display integrity and professionalism throughout my career;
Advance the philosophy, practice and science of osteopathic medicine;
Continue life-long learning;
Support my profession with loyalty in action, word and deed;
Live each day as an example of what an osteopathic physician should be.
AMA Physician Charter: Fundamental Principles
Primacy of patient welfare
Patient autonomy
Social justice
AMA Physician Charter: Professional Responsibilities/Commitment to
Professional competence Honesty with patients Maintaining appropriate relations with patients Improving quality of care Improving access to care Just distribution of finite resources Scientific knowledge Maintaining trust by managing conflicts of interest Professional responsibilities
What are the main sources of Ethical Conflict?
Different:
Facts, Values, Emotions, Reasoning, Loyalties, Perceptions
Different Reasoning examples
Consequences
Liability
Different Loyalties examples
Patient
Institution
Society
Different Values examples
Culture
Religion
Virtue Ethics
Oldest/most durable theory of ethics (~4000 years old)
Moral norms govern right action
Emphasizes the agent who performs the action
Virtue
Character trait which disposes habitually to excellence in intent and performance
“Don’t even have to think about it”
What is the current ethical trend?
To link Virtue Theory with Four Principles
What are the 8 Virtues?
Prudence-Wisdom Justice Fortitude Temperance Fidelity to Trust Compassion Integrity Effacement of self-interest
Cardinal Virtues
Prudence-Wisdom
Justice
Fortitude
Temperance
Cardinals “Just Play during Freezing Temperatures”
Prudence-Wisdom
Practical wisdom
Aritstotle, “Possessing moral insight”
Capacity to make the right decision, at the right time, for the right reasons
BOTH AND rather than EITHER OR
Justice
Only one that is both a Virtue and Principle
Strict habit of rendering what is due others
Challenge for clinicians, as emphasis is not on individual patient
Focus on pattern of distribution of the good
Fortitude
Sustained moral courage
Resisting temptation to diminish patient good through self-fear/social or bureaucratic pressure
Being an advocate for patients
“Never practice medicine out of fear” (Which virtue)
Fortitude quote
Temperance
Is a victory over desire
Greatest temptations in society are excesses of all sorts
Plato, “Doing good in one’s business or affairs”
Fidelity to Trust
Finding out who patient is and how they want to meet challenges of illness, disability, and death
Most serious outcome of erosion of trust is emergence of an ethic of distrust
