Unfortunately, cases of unprofessional behavior among doctors are often reported in different parts of the globe. Among the most significant issues which can be observed in such cases are competency, responsibility, attitude to patients and the other hospital personnel, and behavior during working hours.
In the following paper, a particular case of unprofessionalism will be examined in terms of the main issues of blunder. Overall, the evaluation of the case under consideration shows that the doctor demonstrated a disrespectful attitude to the patient along with showing a significant measure of incompetence.
The case under consideration in this paper happened in 2011 with one of my relatives. The lady went to see a dermatologist as she was experiencing hives located on her legs; in addition, the lady was pregnant in her third month. The problems the patient experienced began even before her entering the doctor’s room as the last one was late for half an hour for his pre-scheduled session. Next, interviewing the patient, the doctor was in a hurry as the other patients were waiting for their sessions.
As a result, proper attention was not paid to this lady. Instead, without any properly taken analyses, the doctor prescribed the patient a number of medicines for the most diversified problems including antiallergenic ones, antibiotics, medicines for stomach and antiallergenic problems, and finally, strong antiseptic uncture for local administration. Fortunately, the lady had a medical education and knew what all these medicines were. So, she went to the other doctor who quickly identified her problem as pregnancy intoxication and prescribed her antiallergenic drugs.
Evaluating this case, a number of significant issues of unprofessionalism on the part of a doctor can be identified. First of all, the doctor’s attitude to his scheduled arrangement with the patient is inappropriate (Arnold, Assessing Professional Behavior 507). Secondly, having not enough time for proper interrogation and examination, the doctor demonstrated terrible incompetence (Medical Professionalism par.34).
The situation was complicated by the fact that the lady was pregnant; thus, the life of the embryo was at risk (Vikram par. 15). As a result, the health and even lives of two individuals were threatened by the actions of the doctor.
Reflecting on the events of the case under consideration, it is important to state that the doctor showed utter unprofessionalism. The issues which are rife in connection to this case are mainly related to such critically important areas as attitude to the patients and competence. Still, according to Arnold (Medical Professionalism, 4), the above-mentioned areas are the most important in medical practice.
This sad experience suggests a conclusion that all the aspects of medical practice are connected. In this vein, when the doctor failed to show respect for his scheduled sessions this led to one more problem, namely, the lack of time. This problem, in turn, made the doctor be in a hurry while examining the patient; so, it was difficult for him to define the source of the problem, and prescribe due treatment.
In conclusion, the case under consideration is a demonstration of a significant measure of unprofessionalism on the part of a doctor. In particular, the doctor failed to show respect for his scheduled meeting and, under the pressure of lack of time as a result, he made a wrong decision showing his incompetence in this case and, what is more upsetting, threatening the well-being of the patient and the embryo.
Works Cited
Arnold, Louise. ‘Assessing Professional Behavior: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow’, Academic Medicine 77.6 (2002): 502-515.
Arnold, Louise. What is medical Professionalism. In Stern DT: Measuring Medical Professionalism, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print.
Medical Professionalism 2010. Web.
Vikram, Jha. n. d. Assessment of medical students’ attitudes towards professionalism. Web.