Cytopathologists frequently interact directly with patients at their bedsides to perform fine needle aspiration procedures. When, if ever, should cytopathologists share preliminary diagnostic impressions directly with patients?
AMA J Ethics. 2016;18(8):779-785. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.8.ecas3-1608.
Zareen Zaidi, MD, PhD, Daniele Ölveczky, MD, MS, Nicole A. Perez, PhD, Paolo C. Martin, PhD, Andres Fernandez, MD, MSEd, Philicia Duncan, MD, and Hannah L. Anderson, MBA
This article canvasses ways to help trainees cultivate discernment and action in response to inequity.
AMA J Ethics. 2024;26(1):E12-20. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2024.12.
In treating children with autism, physicians should reframe the common dynamic in which the family wants medication that the doctor is withholding to focus instead on the family’s and physician’s share goal—the patient’s well-being.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(4):299-304. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.4.ecas1-1504.
Rachel A. Mills, MS, Susanne B. Haga, PhD, and Geoffrey S. Ginsburg, MD, PhD
Clinical utility is a test’s contribution to health outcomes, while personal utility considers the psychosocial and lifestyle effects and the value of the information to the patient.
After assessing the reasons for a patient’s unrealistic hopefulness in the face of clear understanding, a clinician may believe that significant harm will come to the patient if he or she does not acknowledge the seriousness of the illness.
Students more familiar with the quantifiable knowledge taught in medical and premedical curricula become aware that this perspective is not the only or even the most comprehensive way to see health, illness, and healing.