Essay On Paternalism

Modern medicine has become a large part of our culture, as many people strive to increase their quality of life while spending as much time as possible with their family and friends. At the apex of the field of medicine is a medical physician, who is in a venerated position due to their knowledge to treat and help patients, who may not be aware of all that is occurring in their body. These patients may have ideas or plans that they want executed, but if this goes against what the physician has planned: they may agree to treatment that goes against their will because they want to trust what the physician says to do. A physician strives to increase the quality of life of certain individuals – usually characterized by their desire to stay in a …show more content…
In an effort to offset the effects of paternalism, there are some medical ethicists and physicians who have proposed a model of patient autonomy for the physician-patient relationship. Since paternalism does not recognize the rights of adults to self-determination and autonomy does not venerate the principle of beneficence that influences physicians to feel that acting on behalf of others is essential to their craft: neither paternalism or autonomy are adequate characterizations of the physician-patient relationship. Therefore, a model of physician conscience is proposed that summarizes the best features of both paternalism and autonomy. This model encourages patients and physicians to actively exchange ideas, explicitly negotiate differences, and share power and influence to serve the patient’s best interests. There is an intense collaboration between patient and physician so that patients can autonomously make choices that are based on recommendations offered by the physician: allowing for the best decision to be made that is based on both medical facts and the physician’s