Introduction

“The doctor” is a film that revolves around the life a Dr. Jack McKee, a successful heart surgeon.

The movie is about the doctor experiencing changes in his opinion about human relationships,

illness and life in general. It also portrays the weakness of a mechanized healthcare industry. Dr.

Jack is depicted as a charming, brilliant, and cocksure doctor who takes on difficult surgical

cases, but has another side to him that makes him less appealing to his client and colleagues. In

the beginning of the movie, Dr. McKee is arrogant, callous and insensitive to his patients

concerns and fears and is his primary concern is getting the job done. He is emotionally

disconnected from his patients and views them as specimen rather than human beings. His social

and family life is also in disarray as he does not create time for his wife and son. The film takes a

twist when Jack diagnosed with a potentially fatal throat tumor and is forced to view life from a

patient’s perspective. He does not like the experience and vows to be compassionate to his

patient, family and colleagues if he does make it through the treatment. He encounters June Ellis,

a patient with incurable brain tumor, who helps him regain his humanity and makes him swear to

treat his patient well and not lie about any aspect of their illness. Unfortunately Miss. Ellis dies

and this has a strong impact on Dr. Jack McKee life decisions. After he was cured Dr. Jack goes

on to teach his student on the importance of treating their patients with dignity. At the end, Dr.

Jack sees the moral sense of treating his patient as human rather than mere clinical cases and is

more approachable, caring, compassionate and concerned with the overall welfare of his patients

(Dr. Aronson, 2011)

Locus of authority is a type of ethical problem that deals with who should make the moral

decision, that is, who should be the moral agent. In end of life ethics the patient and the doctor

should each have defined roles in making decisions that have an impact on the patient’s outcome.
It is dangerous to leave this responsibility to one party. Dr. Jack makes the decision concerning

his patient without involving them in the process. He dismisses their input and fear. A case in

point is when Mrs. Street calls to seek medical consult with regard to his husband engaging in

strenuous work after lung surgery. Dr.Jack dismisses her concerns, laughs callously and hangs up

leaving the poor lady in limbo. Jack being the authority in the field should listen to her concerns

and advice appropriately. The sense of social contract between the doctor and the patient’s

relative should compel him to take seriously any concerns and fears which have an impact on his

patient wellbeing (Janet Maslin, 1991)

The practice of role-taking in the field of medicine is becoming a vital tool in the process of

teaching doctors. It enables trainees who may not have had the experience of being a patient to

understand, to an extent, the frustrations and fears involved. The student views the experience

from the patient’s perspective and learns to appreciate the importance of a utilitarian approach to

a patient’s management. In the film, Dr. Jack having gone through the experience of being a

patient identifies the importance of role-taking in training his medical interns. After Jack is cured

of his tumor, he returns to work and advocates for his student to treat their patients with

compassion and be sensitive to their concerns and aspiration in the treatment process. He assigns

them different diagnoses and instructs them to get into patients gowns and experience the process

that the patient undergoes in a hospital. This enables them to understand the value of the

principle of deontology in medical ethics in the process of treating a patient as the experience the

patient undergoes might be more important than the actual outcome of the treatment plan (Janet

Maslin, 1991)

Forms of moral judgment are concerned with the evaluation of actions or inaction, desires,

intentions and trait and their characterization as either good or bad with regard to a specific
reference standard. In relation to end of life moral judgment can be made based on the four moral

principles: autonomy in which the patient is provided with an opportunity to either accept or

refuse treatment, beneficence in which the physician strives acts in the best interest of the

patient, non-malficence, that is, do no harm and finally the principle of justice which deals with

fairness and equality. The movies enable one to understand the vital role these principles play in

the treatment of a patient. Dr. Jack does not provide his patient with an opportunity to understand

their ailment and express their concerns. For instance, dismissing Mrs. Streets concerns about his

husband may eventually lead to complications after surgery that may be fatal. Patient’s concerns

may make one beware of compounding factors that may influence the treatment plan. There has

been cases of doctors getting into legal entanglement because of not following the correct code

of conduct as pertains to the process of informing the patient of different treatment options and

giving them the final say in the preferred option. The film depicts these short comings through

Dr. Jack and some of his colleagues.

End of life ethics is concerned with a set of moral code of conduct pertain to patients with

terminal illness. I believe the end of life ethics must be mandatory for all medical doctors for the

following reasons. It equips them with skills to assess patient capacity and enable them support

patient to participate in the decision making process. Teaches medical doctors to take into

account any evidence of previously expressed medical wishes and work closely with other

healthcare team and relatives to explore patience views and whether the proposed course would

be beneficial or detrimental to the patient’s welfare. It also enables them to come up with helpful

approaches to achieve clear, effective and sensitive communication with patients and those close

to them. It dictates laws and codes of practice on decision making with patients who lack

capacity to make their own decision. It enables them to understand pitfall in the treatment of a
patient with terminal illness that might land them in medical legal problem. It also enables them

to deal with their emotional difficulties in end of life decision making process and emphasizes on

the rights of all patients to be treated with dignity and respect throughout the course of their

treatment (GMC, 2010)

In conclusion, the film “The Doctor” can be used to emphasize the importance of ethics in the

field of medicine. It gives a perspective of both the doctors and the patient’s experiences in the

process of treatment and the pitfall that may impact negatively in the process. Knowledge of the

different aspect of end of life ethics is vital for the overall well being of patients with terminal

illnesses.

References

General Medical Council. Treatment and Care towards the End of Life: Good Practice in Decision Making.

GMC, 2010 (http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/ethical_guidance/6858.asp).

Janet Maslin (1991): The Doctor, Review/Film. New York Times.com. Retrieved 08, 2014.
http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D0CE1DC1439F937A15754C0A967958260

Dr. Aronson (2011): Ethical Issues of Health Care. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 07, 2011, from
http://www.studymode.com/essays/Ethical-Issues-Of-Health-Care-731576.html

Dr. Edward E. Rosenbaum, A Taste Of My Own Medicine: When the Doctor

Is the Patient, Random House, 1988.

Gillon, R (1994). "Medical ethics: four principles plus attention to scope". British Medical
Journal 309 (184). doi:

Ryan CJ. Ethical issues, part 2: ethics, psychiatry, and end-of-life issues. Psychiatry Times.
2010;27(6):26-27.