Medical Student Blog

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Within the healthcare system, it is important for healthcare professionals to maintain ethical standards, including those that govern respect for persons, a primary component of which is autonomy, and beneficence. Continue reading »

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You are a paramedic arriving at an emergency scene. A group of scouts has entered a cave that is now filling with water. They were led into the cave by a rather large scoutmaster. Unfortunately, while leading them out of the cave, the scoutmaster somehow managed to get stuck in a narrow opening with only his head and shoulders protruding out. With his upper torso stuck outside the cave, it appears the scoutmaster will survive, but all the boys below will drown if they cannot escape.

After you have checked all possible escape routes and have attempted to extricate the scoutmaster, it becomes clear that the only way to save the boys is to sacrifice the scoutmaster, so he can be removed. This is, unfortunately, not the Winnie the Pooh story where Rabbit has the option of waiting until Pooh loses weight. What is the correct action for this case?

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Physicians and caretakers are often faced with difficult dilemmas that require assisting patients and families to choose a specific course of action. Few environments are as demanding on the professional relationship as within medicine; treatment plans, end-of-life decisions and day-to-day recommendations balance risks with the patient’s best interests. Especially in the medical field, providers’ recommendations must maintain ethical standards. Ethical is defined at Dictionary.com (n.d.) as: “being in accordance with the rules or standards for right conduct or practice, esp. the standards of a profession”.

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Psychology has profound effects on decision making. Within the business world, psychology can explain the processes through which organizations and individuals develop fraudulent and unethical behavior. Through analysis of the psychology behind the decision making and considering examples of corruption within the corporate world, precautions may be made to prevent similar fraudulent practices from occurring within the medical field.

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To better understand the impact of decision making on the medical field, I have chosen to evaluate an organization whose purpose it is to support and advise healthcare providers, both in policy making and treatment options.

Identification of Company

The Society for Medical Decision Making (SMDM) is an international organization that assists physicians and other medical professionals in improving healthcare outcomes by promoting efficacious decision making that is based on valuable resources exchanged through academic forums (paraphrased, Society for Medical Decision Making, 2007).  Because of the broad range of members’ expertise, hospitals and physicians are able to draw healthcare information from global resources.  By approaching medical decision making and policy formation from a multi-dimensional perspective, the informed communication will lead to better and more effective outcomes, which may lead to overall health benefits.
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Responsibility Centers

Given the state of the global economy, it is necessary for all organizations to maximize revenue while controlling costs. Even within the healthcare field, careful management that serves both patient needs and operational necessities is essential to long-term survival, accomplished through intensive organizational design, accounting controls and continued excellence in quality and service. It is possible to efficaciously manage medical and business aspects by implementing responsibility centers throughout the organization.
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The BBC is reporting that repeated warnings regarding Melanotan I and II tan jabs, appear to be going unheeded in the UK. Evidentally Health experts have warned that using melanotan I and II could damage the immune and cardiovascular systems, whislt in some cases triggering other problems.
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