Crammer's Corner

摘要

Ethical issues is a challenging arena, not only for junior doctors, but also for experienced clinicians - an important reason being that peoples' views can vary on what is the 'right thing' to do in certain situations. Such consultations need to be handled with finesse, pragmatism and empathy. In this session, we shall review the principles of medical ethics and dip our toes into the ethical minefield of disclosure of information. Whether in clinical practice (or the Clinical Skills Assessment), a mature understanding of ethical principles can help us and our patients in making well thought-out decisions. Ethics is a set of concepts and principles that guide us in determining what behaviour helps or harms sentient creatures. It involves systematising, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct. Medical ethics is based on a set of values that professionals can refer to in the case of any confusion or conflict. In this article, we will delve into the concept of ethical dilemmas and review the principles of medical ethics using care scenarios. The concept of ethical dilemmas Ethical dilemmas are situations in which there is a choice to be made between two (cm" more) options, neither of which resolves the situation in an ethically acceptable fashion. In such cases, societal and personal ethical guidelines can provide no satisfactory outcome for the chooser. Ethical dilemmas assume that the chooser will abide by societal norms, such as codes of law, set principles (or religious teachings), yet the choice remains ethically impossible.