How can clinicians respond to the alarmingly high rates of maternal mortality in the U.S., and address racial disparities between black and white mothers? This month on Ethics Talk, we discuss how clinicians can improve maternal outcomes.
Physician-journalists balance the ethical requirements of two professions with competing goals. Physicians must “do patients no harm ” and “keep secret” what they “see or hear”; journalists seek out and disseminate information in service of public enlightenment.
Equating conscience with clinical judgment challenges the way that ethics is marginalized in medical education. Ethics is simply an account of what good medical practice looks like in particular situations.