Question

Read the scenario and answer the following questions:

Dr. Yates is a Family Practitioner who has a thriving suburban practice. As one might expect, he has a crowded waiting room. On Tuesday, he usually lunches with a colleague at the hospital and then returns to his office to see patients. These lunches cause him to run late getting back to his office about 1/2 the time. When that happens, his patients must wait a bit longer than normal. But, in any event, he rarely manages to see his patients on time. On a Tuesday in February, he was running unusually late. Lunch had taken a long time and he was tired. By 4:30 he was seeing patients scheduled for 3:30. One of these patients was Donald Truett, an economics professor at the local university. This was Dr. Truett's first visit. He was new to the area, wanted to find Family Practitioner and to have a recently sustained running injury checked. When Dr. Yates entered the cubicle in which Dr. Truett was waiting, he noticed Dr. Truett glance at his watch. Dr. Yates promptly introduced himself. "Hello, Don, I'm Dr. Yates. I'm glad to meet you. What seems to be the problem?" During the course of the exam, Dr. Truett said little, even though Dr. Yates sought to engage him in conversation. Fortunately, Dr. Truett's injury was minor. Dr. Yates told him what to do, asked if he had any questions, and then departed. Dr. Yates thought nothing more of the matter. Two days later, Dr. Yates' wife asked if he had treated a colleague of hers, Donald Truett. "You know, Ted, he didn't care much for you. Said you were rude, saw him an hour late, and didn't offer a word of explanation or apology. Don also didn't like your introducing yourself as 'Doctor' while you called him 'Don'. You might have treated him better. He's a friend, you know." Dr. Yates felt himself getting angry. "Are you joking? I gave him good care, tried to be pleasant, and the sullen SOB sat there without saying a word, and then ran off to bad mouth me to you. I got into medicine to help people. I've serious things to think about. I'm surrounded by sickness and death, and then I have to come home to listen to this chicken shit. In the future, spare me you referrals." His wife flushed. "Ted, stop being so pompous. Just because you're a doctor doesn't mean you're exempted from good manners. Have you ever thought about how you treat people? Why I'm surprised you don't make me call you 'Dr. Yates'. How do you think your nurses feel when you call them 'sweetie' or by their first names while you're expecting them to always call you 'doctor'. Yours is an overly righteous profession." Although angry, Dr. Yates saw the conversation was not going to improve. He promised to give the matter some thought.

1. Is there a different standard of etiquette for the powerful (Dr. Yates in this case) and everyone else? Is this morally correct?

2. To what extent are power differentials necessary for medical practice? Power differential in this case means Dr. Yates is given more power than his staff.

3. Does differential status improve patient care? Is it helpful for certain healthcare providers to be given more power?

4. How should one address other medical colleagues and patients?

5. What are the implications of this case for you if you choose a profession in healthcare?

Answer 1

Ans: For a doctor, every pateint is equal for him. Not only for he doctors but also for every healthcare professional. So, there is nothing like that a professor should be addressed properly while others should not. This is also not morally correct because patients are priorities for doctors.

Sometimes in many of the hospital it has been seen that there is some boundaries among the Doctors and the other staffs of the hospital. Yes, ofcousre doctors have more power to treat the patient according what they consider to be better for the patient. But there is no personal superiority for the doctors.

Every healthcare professonial has the different duties hand rights towards the patient. Yes, its healpful for the patient that certain healthcare have certain powers because the powers that doctors has to treat the patient that should not be given to the nurse or the pharmacist because there is vast difference in the education of the healthcare professionals.