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.
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.
Psychiatrists face difficulties when deciding on treatment plans for patients who are not interested in receiving help or are lacking the capacity to make responsible decisions.