Thinking about Medicine: Ideals

[Waxbaro!]

Decision and intervention are the essence of action: reflection and conjecture are the essence of thought: the essence of medicine is combining these realms of action and thought in the service of others. we offer these ideals to stimulate both thought and action: like the stars, these ideals are hard to reach-but they serve for navigation during the night.

• Do not blame the sick for being sick.
• Work for your patients, not your consultant.
• Use ward rounds to boost the patient's morale, not your own.
• Treat the whole patient, not the disease-or the ward sister.
• Admit people-not 'strokes', 'infarcts', or 'crumple'.
• Spend time with the bereaved; you can help them shed their tears.
• Question your conscience-however strongly it tells you to act.
• The ward sister is usually right; respect her opinion.
• Be king to yourself-you are not an inexhaustible resource.
• Give the patient (and yourself) time; time to ask questions, time to reflect, time to allow healing to take place, and time to gain autonomy.
• Give the patient the benefit of the doubt. if you can, be optimistic; optimistic patients who feel in charge live longer and feel better.

Quoted from "Oxford Handbook of Clinical medicine"
Waxbaro!