Jonathan M. Metzl, MD, PhD and Dorothy E. Roberts, JD
The call for structural competency encourages medicine to broaden its approach to matters of race and culture so that it might better address both individual-level doctor and patient characteristics and institutional factors.
Despite the natural desire in obstetrics for a happy outcome, sometimes the common aggressive interventions will not help maintain a pregnancy until viability.
The profession of medicine is duty-bound to further the best interests of the public. If evidence suggests that discrimination based on sexual orientation or denial of civil marriage to GLBT couples has adverse effects on their health, physicians must oppose such practices, regardless of their personal biases.
Hospital medicine has developed into a recognized subspecialization area that will likely require board certification once the ethical issues surrounding clinical care within the hospital have been addressed.
The hospitalist model should be modified to ensure that inpatients receive continuity of care and that their expressed values regarding treatment are maintained once they are admitted.