A historical review shows how medicine's focus has changed from the time of Hippocratic physicians to present-day medicine to focus on the patient as an individual.
The Declaration of Professional Responsibility was created by the AMA in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks and is supported by many medical and specialty societies.
The threat of bioterrorism in the form of aerosolized smallpox is real, and policy is needed to clarify the risk of disease to the public and recommendations on vaccination.
A Peace Corps physician working in Africa recounts the challenges of obtaining prompt medical treatment for Trypanosomiasis and other tropical diseases in a country where emergency care is not readily available.
A medical student illustrates the damaging effects that stereotyping of immigrants has on the availability and receipt of health care and on the medical system itself.
A bioethicist who had thyroid cancer as a child describes his recent positive experience as an adult patient with his surgeon and how his surgeon's bioethics training helped the patient-physician relationship.
Those conducting Western-style clinical trial research in developing countries must consider the manner in which ethical principals are implemented within local standards of care.
Physicians need to understand when it may be appropriate to let patients get involved in medical decision-making and when it may be necessary to provide their personal medical judgment.