Code Of Ethics In The Physician Assistant Profession

For my code of ethics, I chose to research the physician assistant profession, which will be my career after graduation. Throughout my research, I found that there are several significant concepts that are covered in the Professional Code of Ethics for physician assistants as well as any healthcare providers. Prior to performing any research, I knew some of the ethic concerns and codes of ethics associated with my major, but I was aware of all of them. Some of the important most important concepts within the Professional Code of Ethics for medicine (physician assistant) can be broken up into two categories, which are medical policy and care. In regards to medical policies, some of the important concepts include: confidentiality, nondiscrimination, …show more content…
Within medical care, some of the major points covered include: disclosure/informed consent, care, genetic testing, community well being, end of life, and competency. Disclosure and informed consent are two separate topics, but they are related because they both deal with telling patients information that is significant to their interests or well-being. Disclosure is more related to medical mistakes and telling the patients about any improper, negligent, or unethical behavior that affects them. As physician assistants, it will be our job to protect and promote our patient’s free will, so this is where informed consent becomes important. In order to give our patient’s the proper care, we will have to include the nature of medical conditions, the goal of treatment, treatment options, outcomes, risks/side effects, etc. In addition, genetic testing and end of life concerns play a huge ethical role in medicine because they are extremely controversial. In regards to genetic testing, it poses an ethical issue due to the fact that a couple could choose abortion if they found out that their child was mentally challenged through genetic testing. As healthcare providers, we are required to do our jobs without involving our personal beliefs, which can be hard. In regards to the end of life concept, it is extremely important to follow any personal beliefs or choices that our patients have made, such as a DNR request. DNR requests are a very good example of the ethical concerns regarding the end of life concept. With a DNR request, a physician assistant (or any healthcare professional) cannot go against your beliefs if your heart stops or if you stop breathing. They have to respect your request regardless of their beliefs. Finally, the last two major points in medical care are community well being and