The history of Western medicine chronicles a tension between ideologies of patient care—the holistic Hippocratic view and the specialization view, with a depersonalization of the patient that coincides with the rise of pathologic anatomy in the early modern era.
Some physicians who value collective bargaining remain concerned that patient services could suffer, but unionization can be driven by a focus on improving care.
AMA J Ethics. 2020; 22(3):E193-200. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.193.
Health workers care for COVID-19 patients, just as St Roch tended to bubonic plague victims during the Renaissance. Three artworks relate Roch’s story and apply key insights to the 2020 pandemic.
AMA J Ethics. 2020; 22(5):E441-445. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2020.441.
Martin Bricknell, PhD, David Whetham, PhD, Richard Sullivan, PhD, and Peter Mahoney, PhD
International humanitarian law obliges clinicians to coordinate with local civilian, military, and nongovernment organizations, and implementation isn't easy.
AMA J Ethics. 2022; 24(6):E472-477. doi:
10.1001/amajethics.2022.472.