Dr. Pellegrino’s article defines the foundation of medical ethics and all-encompassing end of medicine. He points to the covenant and inequality that exist from the fact of illness in physician-patient relationship as the unique elements that distinguishes ethic of medicine from the ethics of other professions: “They must enter a relationship of inequality because the health professional possesses the knowledge and skill the patient needs. Thus when well persons become ill, by that very fact, they become patients—vulnerable, suggestible, and exploitable. They experience a change in existential state that is not exactly parallel to any other state. Illness is a unique universal phenomenon of human existence and it is that uniqueness that generates
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Dr. Pellegrino writes that the virtue of humility “lies in a sober appreciation of the limitation of medicine as art and science, and of the physician, himself as an instrument of the patient’s healing.” I am fascinated advancements in the field of medicine and how much they have changed our lives, but at the same time, I am constantly reminded of the limitations in medicine and how much there is yet to be known. I also face personal limitation in myself daily as I encounter overwhelming amount of material that makes information retention very challenging, leaving me with the feeling of inadequacy for the career that I so wanted to pursue. I believe that recognizing and coming to grips with one’s own limitation as a human being, and being able to use it as a motivator to strive for better, whether in patient care or research, are essential in medical professional’s attitude towards life’s …show more content…
Pellegrino states, must be defined in terms of the good of the patient. He also tells the reader that the good of the patient has at least four compartments: “(1) the medical good, (2) the good as perceived by the patient, (3) the good of the patient as a human, and (4), the good of the patient’s spiritual nature.” I feel that this idea of good of the patient is embodied in cura personalis. Achieving and satisfying the good in all four compartments can become challenging especially when every patient’s story and situation are different. No two patients will have the same illness experience, and this diversity makes prudence so important in meeting the unique needs of each
Dr. Pellegrino writes that the virtue of humility “lies in a sober appreciation of the limitation of medicine as art and science, and of the physician, himself as an instrument of the patient’s healing.” I am fascinated advancements in the field of medicine and how much they have changed our lives, but at the same time, I am constantly reminded of the limitations in medicine and how much there is yet to be known. I also face personal limitation in myself daily as I encounter overwhelming amount of material that makes information retention very challenging, leaving me with the feeling of inadequacy for the career that I so wanted to pursue. I believe that recognizing and coming to grips with one’s own limitation as a human being, and being able to use it as a motivator to strive for better, whether in patient care or research, are essential in medical professional’s attitude towards life’s …show more content…
Pellegrino states, must be defined in terms of the good of the patient. He also tells the reader that the good of the patient has at least four compartments: “(1) the medical good, (2) the good as perceived by the patient, (3) the good of the patient as a human, and (4), the good of the patient’s spiritual nature.” I feel that this idea of good of the patient is embodied in cura personalis. Achieving and satisfying the good in all four compartments can become challenging especially when every patient’s story and situation are different. No two patients will have the same illness experience, and this diversity makes prudence so important in meeting the unique needs of each