Morally Ambiguous Questions

What makes for a good doctor? It’s not just their ability to diagnose and treat a case, or how good their bedside manner is. It includes how they handle morally ambiguous questions while keeping the patient’s best interest at heart. In a day most doctors will see about thirty patients unless they are a specialist or determine their own hours. Of those thirty cases, only one or two will face problems that make you question what you believe. In those cases you must establish what you are willing to do for a patient. This leaves us with one question: How does a physician answer morally ambiguous questions? There are four main methods of discernment. They are human experience, the bible, church teaching, and prayer. In the medical community all
The only things keeping them alive are the choices you make, and sometimes the wishes of the family may not be in the best interest of the patient. Say you have a 34 year old female patient, Patient G, who was injured in a car accident and was diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). This patient is now unable to eat or swallow so you medically assist her nutrition and hydration. Her husband was named the party legally responsible for her medical decisions. After two months of medically assisted feeding, he decides that Patient G should be taken off of this life sustaining treatment. You find this decision to be premature, because you have explained to him that she is still awake and overtime the awakeness of patients with pvs can improve. What should you do? Many doctors agree that in this type of situation the best option would be to talk to the hospital's ethics committee. If they agree with you, then this case could potentially turn into a legal dispute. If they disagree and come to the conclusion that ending the treatment is in the best interest of the patient, you should comply. Another example of ethical dilemmas regarding life support could be with Patient H. Patient H is a 27 year old male who has been declared brain dead. You are keeping him alive on a ventilator for the time being. Unfortunately, there is no way to reverse brain death. His girlfriend is at the hospital with him and
Not all doctors will choose the same treatment path for their patient, especially in rarer cases that do not have as many research cases to base remedies off of. Some doctors would recommend one drug over another while another doctor might suggest having preventative surgeries. Depending on how you were taught in medical school, some options may seem better than others solely because of what you were taught. But if you never attempt to see another view, that could hurt your patients. This is where the method of human experience should be inserted. Listen to your colleagues. While they might not specialize in the same area as you, their viewpoints are just as valuable and can sometimes give insight that can save a patient. Another option reviewed was Church teachings. To find out more about these you can talk your local church. There they have more information about what the Church teaches on issues such as end of life treatment, abortions, and chemotherapy. Most of these teachings have their basis in the Bible which is another discernment method. The Bible has less specifics regarding medical treatment, but its basic teachings, such as do not kill found in the ten commandments, can steer the path of doctors choices. And finally there is prayer. Prayer focuses on your relationship with God. It is your way of directly communicating