Professional Documents
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Professionalism and Ethics Module: Portfolio Workbook
Professionalism and Ethics Module: Portfolio Workbook
Portfolio Workbook
What is Professionalism?
Professionalism is the basis of how a doctor works for the betterment of
his/her patients and improvement of the society. Due to this professionalism,
the doctor earns respect and trust in the society.
To be a professionally competent doctor, one has to practice effective use of
verbal & non-verbal communication, knowledge, technical skills, clinical
reasoning, emotions, values, and reflection in day-to-day work. 1
The competence or skill expected of a professional doctor includes 2:
Character/ Integrity
Attitude
Excellence
Competency
Conduct
Professional ethics and etiquettes are sourced from the glorious guidance of
Islam that urges the best of manners, good performance, and understanding
that Allah (SWT) observes all our deeds, as the messenger of Allah (PBUH)
said, “I was sent to complete the best of manners.” [Code of Ethics for
Healthcare Practitioners. The Saudi Commission for Health Specialties
(SCFHS), 2014]
The history of ethics in medical profession spans over the last 2500 years,
starting with the Greek and Roman period (the Hippocratic oath was published
in fifth century), moving on to medieval medicine (Ishaq Ibn Ali al-Ruhawi
wrote the Conduct of a Physician, the first book dedicated to medical ethics),
and embarking on to modern developments in Europe and America. Thomas
Percival, an English physician, coined the term of “medical ethics” in his book
in 1803. Based on Percival’s work, American Medical Association adopted its
first code of ethics in 1847. The need for revising the codes of ethics was felt
soon after the first draft of codes of medical ethics was written. This need was
mostly due to the scientific and technological advancements that generally
increased the risks for potentially harming the community, the patients and
the medical professionals. For example, the atrocities by medical researchers
during the 18th and 19th century lead to further revisions in ethical codes to
empower the vulnerable. The Nuremberg Code (1947) and the Declaration of
Helsinki (1964) are two well-known and well respected documents
contributing to medical ethics.
The modern codes of medical ethics are based on the common framework of
the "four principles" approach postulated by Tom Beauchamp and James
Childress in their textbook Principles of biomedical ethics, published in 1985.
The principles are expanded for the purpose of description in different codes
of medical ethics. Each principle focus on values that arise in interactions
between doctors and patients.6
Principles of Ethics
Autonomy: People have the right to control what happens to their bodies.
This principle simply means that an informed, competent adult patient can
refuse or accept treatments, drugs, and surgeries according to their
wishes. The principle encompasses the concepts of consent,
confidentiality and privacy within its domain of respecting the choice of
the individual human being (Respect for human being).
Beneficence: All doctors must strive to improve their patient’s health, to
do the maximum good for the patient in every situation. But what is good
for one patient may not be good for another, so each situation should be
considered individually. This principle gives the doctor the responsibility to
act as their patients’ advocate and do what is in their best interest.
Non-maleficence: “First, do no harm” is the basis of medical ethics. In
every situation, doctors should avoid causing harm to their patients. This
harm can be physical, psychological or emotional in nature. Jeapordising
someone’s trust can be one way of harming them, thereby making truth-
telling a way of non-maleficence too.
Justice: This principle demands that doctors should practice with fair-
dealing when caring for their patients, and protecting what they deserve.
Doctors should be able to justify their actions in every situation.
Duties of a Doctor
Stated in Chapter 2 of Code of Ethics of SCFHS, the relation between a
healthcare practitioner and his/her patient is based on mutual trust and
honesty between the two. It is the duty of the healthcare practitioner to
deliver comprehensive medical care to his/her patients according to their
medical needs with accuracy and proficiency in order to satisfy the patient’s
best interests while respecting the patient’s dignity, and considering the
patient’s rights. All of this should be within the ethical framework dictated by
the Islamic Sharia and professional duty, including the following:
While watching the short video clip, observe the following for
discussion:
What were the good and bad points noted in doctors’ interaction with
the patient?
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How was the patient feeling when she was being examined?
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The healthcare profession has become one of the noblest professions because
it is related to human soul, health and life preservation which is the most
precious thing. As a result, healthcare practitioners are entrusted with
patients’ secrets and most private matters.
Thus, a healthcare practitioner should strive to excel in his/her work and seek
perfection in performance while ensuring to adhere the noblest of manners
which Allah (SWT) has gifted to those who fulfil people’s needs, erase their
pains, and resolve their problems.
Transplantation
Altruism has an important place in Islam. Similarly, saving a life is placed very
highly in the Quran. The Islamic Jurisprudence Assembly Council in Saudi
Arabia approved deceased and live donation in their landmark decision in
1988. Similar formal rulings are in place in Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan,
and other countries.
Euthanasia
“Euthanasia” or mercy killing is the act of ending the life of an individual
suffering from a terminal illness or an incurable condition. This can be through
lethal injection or the suspension of extraordinary medical treatment. The
term “physician assisted suicide” is used when a patient is knowingly
facilitated by a physician to commit suicide. The facilitation can be through
providing lethal medication or information regarding the use of medication for
the purpose of killing one-self.
In Islam, these acts are considered “killing a person”, that is a major sin and
strictly forbidden. Therefore, Muslims are against any form of euthanasia or
assisted suicide. They believe that all human life is sacred because it is given
by Allah, and that Allah chooses how long each person will live. Human beings
should not interfere in this.
Further reading:
Al-Ghazal, Sharif Kaf. "Medical ethics in Islamic history at a glance." JISHIM3
(2004): 12-13.
http://faculty.ksu.edu.sa/nadalyousefi/Medical%20Ethics/medical%20ethics
%20in%20islamic%20history.pdf
Mustafa Y. Islam and the four principles of medical ethics. J Med Ethics
2014;40:479–483 http://jme.bmj.com/content/medethics/40/7/479.full.pdf
Williams, John R. "The Declaration of Helsinki and public health." Bulletin of
the World Health Organization 86.8 (2008): 650-652.
http://www.scielosp.org/pdf/bwho/v86n8/22.pdf
Reflection Exercise
From your past experience, write 5 good qualities that you saw in a
doctor that you visited?
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A Muslim doctor has faith in God and destiny, and the conviction that
there is a cure for every disease. Our Prophet (SAWT), on the authority
of Yasir (RA), said: "For each disease there is a cure; and when the
fight (treatment) is given, the disease is cured by the Will of Allah"
[Ahmad and Muslim]
Communication skills, verbal, non-verbal and written, are not only important
for interacting with patients, but they are also required for interacting with
fellow professionals and documentations.
Further reading:
The ethics of health communication. World Health Forum, 1994.
http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/51651/1/WHF_1994_15(2)_p175-
177.pdf
Reflection Exercise
A 12-year-old thalassemia child, who is on regular blood transfusion since the
age of two years has developed severe iron overload due to non-compliance
with Injection Desferral. As a result, now he has dilated cardiomyopathy and
congestive heart failure. He was admitted three times to the hospital last year
to control heart failure. He has come today for follow up and dose adjustment
of oral Iron Chelator.
Read the conversation between doctor, patient (Abdullah) and his mother
below and reflect on the following questions:
ي اترى حس ين أخب اره. كيف حالك يأم حسين إن شاء هللا تكونوا بخير، السالم عليكم يا حسين: الطبيب •
إيه؟
! الولد حالته متأخرة و مو عارفين كل اللى بيجرالنا ده ليه، وهللا مانا عارفة يادكتور: األم •
أنا عرف يأم حسين إن السنة اللى مضت كانت صعبة عليكم لكن إحنا تكلمن ا في الموض وع ده:الطبيب •
أخ ر.قبل كده و عارفين إن الحديد الزيادة اللى فى جسم حسين هو الس بب فى مش اكل القلب اللى عن ده
ي اترى إي ه األخب ار، مرة حضرتم فى المتابعة حسين كان ما بيقدر يمشى من غرفته لغاي ة ب اب ال بيت
اليوم ياحسين؟
لكن ما بقدر أطل ع الس لم. أنا بقدر أمشى من عند البيت لغاية بيت الجيران فى منتصف الشارع: حسين •
.والزم أستريح كذا مرة فى الطريق
ي اترى، أنا كنت قلقان علي ك الم رة اللى مض ت. ده كالم طيب جدا وواضح إنك إتحسنت كثير: الطبيب •
.عامل إيه مع اقراص عالج زيادة الحديد بتاخده بإنتظام وال أله
Students will get time for Q&A and feedback to and from the facilitator
Can there be any ethical issues in your going through the patient’s file
and sharing the information with his relatives?
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What possible harm can you do to the patient by sharing his
information with your friend?
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What will you do in this situation? (Refer to SCFHS code of ethics)
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What are the possible situations when a patient’s confidentiality can
be breached by the doctor?
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The SCFHS’s code of ethics (page 17) has elaborated the conditions that must
apply for a consent to be valid. It also addresses the process of consent in
different situations like emergency & life-threatening conditions, incompetent
or unconscious patients, children and women.
What do you think about the way the consent was taken?
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Doctors often have to deal with situations where they are needed to inform
patients or their relatives regarding some bad news. For example, informing a
patient that he/she is suffering from a malignancy, telling the parents that
their child has Down syndrome, or informing the relatives that their patient
has expired. Bad news is defined as “any information that drastically and
negatively alters the patient's view of future”. Giving such information to
patients is often considered the most difficult part of a doctor’s profession.
At times, the doctors may have their own issues about breaking bad news.
They may find it an unpleasant task. They may not want to take hope away
from their patient. They may be fearful of the patient's or family's reaction to
the news, or they may be uncertain of how to deal with an intense emotional
response.
There is no harm in saying “I don’t have this information now, but I will
find out and get back to you”, then make sure to get back with the
information.
Give the information in small chunks, and be sure to stop between each
chunk to ask the patient if he or she understands. Long lectures are
boring and confusing. Remember to translate medical terms into
understandable language and don't try to teach pathophysiology. Give
patient the time and opportunity to ask questions, or clarify what you
have said.
5. Responding to the patient's feelings
If you don't understand the patient's reaction, you will leave a lot of
unfinished business, and you will miss an opportunity to be a caring
physician. Learning to identify and acknowledge a patient's reaction is
something that definitely improves with experience, if you are
attentive.
6. Summarizing and Planning
Summarize your discussion at the end before documenting. Inform the
patient about what is the plan from now onwards. Outline a step-by-
step plan, explain it to the patient. Give the patient a phone number or
a way to contact the relevant healthcare person if something or concern
arises before the next planned meeting.
Guidelines on breaking bad news are also given in the SCFHS’s code of
ethics (page 19).
Point to Ponder
Even with all experience and planning, difficult situations can arise
while breaking bad news. One of the commonest is when the
patient starts crying!
How do you think Jack feels during his appointment with Dr. Abbott?
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Every family, society and/or community spends some part of its financial
resources on healthcare. The decisions for appropriate use of these resources
need to be taken with justice and equity for all. This process is called resource
allocation for healthcare.
Case 1: A private hospital in Rabigh has acquired funds for upgrading their
intensive care unit (ICU) setup. The pediatric department wishes to use the
fund for purchasing an incubator for the neonatal ICU. This will help in
improving the survival of new-born children. The anesthesia department is
asking to purchase an adult ventilator for surgical ICU. This will help in saving
lives of critically ill patients. The funds can be used for any one of the two.
Task
Identify the key elements that you may consider in deciding for the
equipment to purchase (justify each element by ethically relevant
factors such as need or likelihood of benefit)
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Self-Study Exercise
Look-up from the sources on internet and give short answers for the following
questions (Give references of the source of your information)
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Suggested reading:
Ethics of Medical Triage. Available from: https://idiopathicmedicine.wordpress.
com/2010/08/15/the-ethics-of-medical-triage/
What are the primary and secondary interests of the physician in this
video clip?
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Why was the patient upset in the last scene? What did he feel about
the physician’s research?
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Reflection Exercise
A doctor is invited to deliver a one hour talk in a conference organized by a
drug company at a resort in Dubai. The doctor is provided family air-tickets
along with two-day stay at the resort by the company.
Are there any ethical issues in this situation? What are they?
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What are the benefits to the drug company in providing this expensive
vocation to the doctor?
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Reflection Exercise
This patient is
discharged from
hospital after
treatment of fracture
of both legs. He lives
on 5th floor, alone.
Reflection Exercise
Identify and discuss the issues that can be raised in the following
case scenarios. (Refer to SCFHS’s code of ethics, chapter 15)
Due to the nature of medical profession, errors can occur with anyone
involved in patient care. Reporting medical errors is based on the ethical
principles of non-maleficence and truth-telling. Patient care as the primary
interest of a medical professional also demands if an error is committed or
observed, efforts should be made to report, analyse and learn from it.
Understanding how medical errors can happen, and identifying and reporting
them is considered the best way to prevent them in future. It encourages
healthcare providers to learn and be extra careful in the professional work,
and brings about policy changes in the system that prevent such events.
Case scenario:
An athlete requires arthroscopy of his right knee under general anesthesia.
Just before finishing the procedure it is discovered that they were operating
on the wrong (left) knee. The surgeon then proceeds to do the arthroscopy of
the other (correct) knee. The surgeon explains to the patient after he wakes
up, that as he is an athlete he also looked inside the other knee to make sure
it was OK.
Research ethics is the discipline that protects and ensures the benefits of
participants in the research process. There are three main objectives of
research ethics:
Researchers must ensure that the research that they are performing is
important enough to justify the risks of participation for their subjects. 16
Self-Study Exercise
Explore the terminologies through internet search and give short answers to
the questions:
1. Therapeutic Misconception
What do you understand by the terminology? _______________________
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2. Vulnerable population
Give example and briefly explain why they are called vulnerable?
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3. Ethics Review Committee
What is the role of this committee in research? _____________________
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4. International guidelines on research ethics
What are the benefits of having international guidelines? Give example of
one guideline. _______________________________________________
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Publication ethics
Student’s Learning Outcomes
Scientific misconduct is the violation of Describe Plagiarism and
the standard codes of ethical behavior in scientific misconduct
scientific research and scholarly Discuss the authorship
activities. 17 criteria according to ICMJE
Discuss issues in publication
Plagiarism is defined as using someone ethics
else’s ideas, thoughts or work without
giving due credit to that person. It can
also be defined as “theft of someone else’s ideas and concepts and pretending
that they are your own”.
Plagiarism can have very serious consequences for the authors including loss
of job, demotion, retraction of publication, loss of reputation and fine. The
journals can take actions against authors whose articles are plagiarized by
retracting the publication or may also blacklist the author for future works.
It is requirement of all scientific journals that the authors certify that their
work is original and is not plagiarized in any form.
Authorship Criteria
There is always a debate on who can be the author. Junior researchers are
often obliged or under pressure to include names as authors of their senior
coulleages, helpers in the research, and/ or close friends in their manuscript.
All those who meet the above four conditions are eligible to be included as
Authors in the manuscript.
All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship, and all
those who qualify should be listed. Acquisition of funding, collection of
data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not
constitute authorship.
Those who have contributed but do not meet all the criteria for authorship
should be listed in an acknowledgment section. Because acknowledgment
may imply endorsement, the corresponding author should obtain written
permission from all acknowledged individuals.
This movie highlights several areas of scientific misconduct that can tempt
researchers, driven by increasing pressures to publish research work in order
to move up the academic ladder.
After watching the video clip; discuss in groups and answer the questions:
(consider the ICMJE guidelines in relation to the questions)
What are the ethical issues shown in this video clip? Identify at least
one related to each of the four main characters?
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What should be done by the sub-editor (fiancé) after the last scene?
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Reflection Exercise
Ali is writing an article on the research that he did with his two other friends
(co-researchers). Mamun comes to him and asks him to add his name in the
authors list. In return Mamun is ready to add Ali’s name in one of his articles
that is going for publication soon.
Can Ali add Mamun’s name in the authors list with or without asking
his two co-researchers? Why?
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References
1. Epstein RM, Hundert EM. Defining and assessing professional
competence. JAMA. 2002;287(2):226–235
2. Article: Professionalism in new millennium. (http://www.afmc.ca/social-
professionalism-e.php)
3. The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third
Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by
Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.)
4. Ahmed and Muslim. http://www.muslimdoctor.org/eng/post.php?id=50
5. Islamic Medical Ethics: The Islamic Medical Association of North
America
6. Principles of Ethics. http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/basic-
principles-of-medical-ethics.html
7. http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/Pa-St/Patient-Confidentiality.
html#ixzz2kLQBK vk4
8. Consent. http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/basic-principles-of-
medical-ethics.html
9. Justice and Equity.
http://www.amsa.org/AMSA/Homepage/About/Committees/
REACH/healthequity.aspx
10. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1376429/
11. Lemmens T, Singer PABioethics for clinicians: 17. Conflict of
interest in research, education and patient care. CMAJ. 1998 Oct
20;159(8):960-5.
12. http://www.uic.edu/depts/mcam/ethics/prenatal.htm
13. Genetic Counseling in the Muslim World: The Challenges, by Aida
Al Aqeel, Department of Pediatrics, Riyadh Armed Forces Hospital and
Department of Genetics, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research
Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, published in the document of 2 nd Pan
Arab Human Genetics Conference.
14. Babgi A. Legal Issues in End-of-life Care: Perspectives from
Saudi Arabia and United States. American Journal of Hospice &
Palliative Medicine.Vol.26(2);April/May,2009
http://ajh.sagepub.com/content/26/2/119.long
15. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22845721
16. C Weijer, B Dickens, and E M Meslin Bioethics for clinicians: 10.
Research ethics CMAJ 1997 April 15; 156(8): 1153–1157
17. http://explorable.com/scientific-misconduct
18. http://www.icmje.org/ethical_1author.html