The Trusted Doctor: Medical Ethics and Professionalism

by Rosamond Rhodes

Overview

Common morality has been the touchstone of medical ethics since the publication of Beauchamp and Childress's Principles of Biomedical Ethics in 1979. Rosamond Rhodes challenges this dominant view by presenting an original and novel account of the ethics of medicine, one deeply rooted in the actual experience of medical professionals. She argues that common morality accounts of medical ethics are unsuitable for the profession, and inadequate for responding to the particular issues that arise in medical practice. Instead, Rhodes argues that medicine's distinctive ethics should be explained in terms of the trust that society allows to the profession. Trust is the core and starting point of Rhodes' moral framework, which states that the most basic duty of doctors is to "seek trust and be trustworthy."

Building from this foundation, Rhodes explicates the sixteen specific duties that doctors take on when they join the profession, and demonstrates how her view of these duties is largely consistent with the codes of medical ethics of medical societies around the world. She then explains why it is critical for physicians to develop the attitudes or "doctorly" virtues that comprise the character of trustworthy doctors and buttress physicians' efforts to fulfil their professional obligations. Her book's presentation of physicians' duties and the elements that comprise a doctorly character, together add up to a cohesive and comprehensive description of what medical professionalism really entails. Rhodes's analysis provides a clear understanding of medical professionalism as well as a guide for doctors navigating the ethically challenging situations that arise in clinical practice

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190859909
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	04/20/2020
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	752,234
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Rosamond Rhodes, Ph.D., is Professor of Medical Education and Director of Bioethics Education at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Professor of Philosophy at The Graduate Center, CUNY, and Professor of Bioethics and Associate Director of the Clarkson-Mount Sinai Bioethics Program. She writes on a broad array of issues in bioethics and has published more than 200 papers and chapters. She is co-editor of The Human Microbiome: Ethical, Legal and Social Concerns (Oxford University Press, 2013), The Blackwell Guide to Medical Ethics (Blackwell, 2007), Medicine and Social Justice: Essays on the Distribution of Health Care (Oxford University Press, first edition 2002; second edition 2012), and Physician Assisted Suicide: Expanding the Debate (Routledge, 1998).

Table of Contents

Dedication
Acknowledgments

Introduction
Chapter 1: Why a New Approach to Medical Ethics Is Needed
Chapter 2: The Distinctive Ethics of Medicine
Chapter 3: Medicine's Core Responsibilities
Chapter 4: The Commitment to Science
Chapter 5: Behavior toward Patients
Chapter 6: Autonomy and Trust
Chapter 7: The Commitment to Truth
Chapter 8: Physicians' Commitments to Fellow Professionals
Chapter 9: The Commitment to Justice
Chapter 10: Additional Professional Virtues
Chapter 11: Resolving Ethical Dilemmas
Chapter 12: Why the Best Interest Standard Is Not Good
Chapter 13: Professional Responsibility and Claims of Conscientious Objection
Chapter 14: Concluding Thoughts

Appendix

Editorial Reviews

"Readers will appreciate the depth of reflection and insight that Rhodes brings with her from years of working at Mount Sanai. Rhodes' observations, especially regarding the special powers and privileges of medicine, provide a foundation for a fresh approach to medical ethics that takes seriously the distinctiveness of the profession. I hope that Rhodes' book sparks productive conversation in the field of bioethics for years to come." — Caitlin Maples, Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics

"Rhodes's duties-first account is both persuasive and practical. It resets the conversation about the source and scope of medical ethics. Focusing on the duties of medical professionals does not prevent consideration of a range of examples beyond individual patient encounters that she connects to medical professional obligations" — Elizabeth Lanphier, Hastings Center Report

"Common morality has been the touchstone of medical ethics since the publication of Beauchamp and Childress's Principles of Biomedical Ethics in 1979. Rosamond Rhodes challenges this dominant view by presenting an original and novel account of the ethics of medicine, one deeply rooted in the actual experience of medical professionals...Trust is the core and starting point of Rhodes' moral framework, which states that the most basic duty of doctors is to "seek trust and be trustworthy." — Claire Clark, University of Kentucky's College of Medicine, New Books Network

"Rhodes offers a powerful challenge to the field of bioethics to discard its long-standing approach to ethical problems in medicine of applying values drawn from common morality such as autonomy and beneficence to clinical matters. Instead, Rhodes argues compellingly, the ethics of medicine must be founded on the special powers, privileges, and immunities of medicine as a profession and the duty to exercise them in a manner that warrants patients' trust." — Leslie Francis, University of Utah

From the Publisher