Indian Journal of Medical Ethics

CORRESPONDENCE

General practice

I enjoyed reading the articles on changing trends in general practice (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). I was disappointed that no one bothered to discuss the important role patients can play in improving the ethical standards of medical practice. Why do doctors assume that they are the center of the medical universe, and that patients cannot be trusted to make their own decisions ? If good doctors spend time and energy in educating their patients, standards of medical practice would improve, as patients would then have tools they could use to evaluate the quality of their medical care – and the quality of their doctor-patient education can help to weed out quacks and unethical doctors who make unrealistic promises.

References

  1. Pednekar A. Changing trends in general practice. Issues in Medical Ethics 2002; 10: 7-8.
  2. Rao BC. Unholy alliances in general medical practice. Issues in Medical Ethics 2002; 10: 9-10.
  3. Ali Mushtaque. D is for doctor… Issues in Medical Ethics 2002; 10: 11.
  4. Merchant A B. Improving the ethics of medical practice Issues in Medical Ethics 2002; 10: 12-13.
  5. Bawaskar HS. General practice in rural areas. Issues in Medical Ethics 2002; 10: 14.
  6. Nagral Sanjay. General practice: some thoughts. Issues in Medical Ethics 2002; 10: 15-16

Aniruddha Malpani, Health Education Library for People, Mumbai.