Medicine as a

Profession
CBL summary
 Mrs. Smith, a 36 year-old woman presents
with a sore, bruised, and swollen right arm.
When asked how she hurt her arm she says
that two days ago she fell onto a coffee table
at home and twisted it. She has been taking
acetaminophen for the pain but it is not
helping. Today, she is finding it difficult to use
her right hand.
 She is otherwise completely healthy.
Physical Examination
 Mrs. Smith does not appear anxious or
otherwise distressed.She is quiet but co-
operative and appears systemically well.
 Her right forearm is edematous from the wrist
to the elbow and is exquisitely painful to
palpation just above the wrist. Bruising is also
noted just above the wrist. The remainder of
the examination is unremarkable.
Social History
 Mrs. Smith lives with her husband of 15 years
and three children. She is a computer
engineer and currently unemployed. Both she
and her husband have been having difficulty
finding permanent work.
 Things have been difficult in the last 4
years with her husband. She implies
that he might be abusive when he
drinks too much but she has no
thoughts of leaving him. He has been
rough with the children on one or two
occasions, but she does not think of
these as major events.
 Mrs. Smith asks you not to speak to her
husband, who is drinking a cup of
coffee in the waiting room.
 She tells you that she does not need or
want any help.
What is a physician?
Webster’s Dictionary

Physician:
 (1) a person legally qualified to practice
medicine and
 (2) one who is skilled in the art of
healing
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physician
 A physician, medical practitioner or medical
doctor is a person who holds a medical
degree, practices medicine, and is concerned
with maintaining or restoring human health
through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of
disease and injury. This is accomplished
through a detailed knowledge of anatomy,
physiology, diseases and treatment— the
science of medicine — and its applied practice
— the art or craft of medicine.
Back to the CBL….

 What roles must the physician take on in

order to effectively help this woman?
– Identify the role and why
– (class discussion)
(Click on the words
or the flower
to activate links)
Back Attributes of the Physician
as Healer and Professional

Competence
Autonomy
Caring / compassion Commitment
Confidentiality Self-regulation
Insight
Altruism associations
Openness Trustworthy
Respect for the institutions
healing function Integrity / Honesty
Responsibility
Respect patient codes of ethics to society
dignity / Morality / Ethical Team work
autonomy Behavior respect for
Presence /Accompany Responsibility to team
profession

Based on the Literature

Physician as…..

 Clinician
 (students to contribute ideas here)
Physician as…..

 Professional
 (students to contribute ideas here)
Physician as…..

 Manager
 (students to contribute ideas here)
Physician as…..

 Health Advocate
 (students to contribute ideas here)
Physician as…..

 Scholar
 (students to contribute ideas here)
Physician as…..

 Communicator
 (students to contribute ideas here)
Physician as…..

 Collaborator
 (students to contribute ideas here)
Physician as…..

 Person
 (students to contribute ideas here)
Integrating the roles…..

 The ongoing challenge

The curriculum:
(Click on the words
or the flower
to activate links)

NEXT
Back

Clinician
The clinician role forms the core medical competency and
forms the major part of your learning experience.
The formal objectives include:
-demonstrate the ability to obtain a complete history and perform a
physical examination on patients in all age groups;
-demonstrate the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to identify
persons at risk for, to diagnose, and to initiate appropriate
management of the most common and the life-threatening health
problems;
-demonstrate the ability to obtain and record, on paper and
electronic format, patient information in an accurate, concise and
organized manner in a variety of clinical settings;
-develop learning strategies to maintain competence as a clinician
in his/her chosen field of practice.
Back

Professionalism
 Professionalism involves being able to demonstrate a
commitment to patients, health professionals and
society through behaviours reflecting honesty,
integrity, compassion, empathy, respect and altruism

 .
Back

Manager
 The modern physician inevitably becomes involved in
administering components of the health system,
whether in their own practice, or as part of a clinic or
hospital team.
 Objectives include understanding health systems at
local, regional, provincial, and national levels, and
 considering appropriate use of health care resources
when making clinical decisions
Back

Health Advocate
The Royal College suggests that physicians should:
 Respond to individual patient health needs and
issues as part of patient care;
 Respond to the health needs of the communities that
they serve;
 Identify the determinants of health of the populations
that they serve;
 Promote the health of individual patients,
communities and populations.
 Back

Scholar Role
The faculty’s objectives include:
 demonstrate the ability to acquire and apply

evidence-based concepts and knowledge to clinical

scenarios;
 demonstrate the ability to access and critically

appraise the appropriate information and literature

related to advancing knowledge in health care;
 develop the skills to effectively facilitate the learning

of persons or groups including colleagues, patients

and families, and other health professionals.
Back

Communicator
Communication is central to the art of medicine. Our
objectives demand that the student will be able to
 establish therapeutic, patient-centered
communication through shared decision-making;
 achieve effective interactions with patients, families,
colleagues and caregivers;
 convey information appropriately to patients, families,
caregivers and colleagues
Back

Collaborator
Medicine must be practiced as a team venture, and our
objectives cover
 knowledge of the roles, skills and responsibilities of
other members of the health care team;
 the ability to work effectively and to share decision-
making in an interprofessional team;
 the ability to access community resources for the
benefit of patients.
Back

Person
Physician, first know thyself. Medicine is a stressful
career, and we have made explicit objectives
concerning maintenance of personal well-being, plus
the ability to support colleagues:
 identify and appreciate the determinants of health for
self and for colleagues on the health care team;
 identify strategies and resources to promote health
and well being of physicians and their families;
 apply skills and strategies to promote personal and
professional health and well being.