The Bond Between Patients and Their Physicians, Essay Example

Assignment #7

The bond between patients and their physicians is stronger than individuals may think. Whereas many believe that a patient’s relationship with the doctor begins and ends during the annual physical examination, the interaction actually extends to become an unbreakable bond. The article, ‘I Don’t Want Jenny To Think I’m Abandoning Her: Views On Overtreatment’ by Diane Meier demonstrates this concept well with a patient named Jenny.

In the article, Jenny is a terminally ill patient who has lived with stage four none-small-cell lung cancer for six years. She has the support of her oncologist during much of her treatment but eventually seeks the help of a palliative physician to answer the “what-ifs.” Jenny leaves the physician’s office after having a long conversation about alternative options in the instance of treatments prescribed by the oncologist being ineffective. Such treatments do render themselves as unproductive as Jenny’s illness progresses, which leaves her oncologist with the fear of disowning his key patient. “I don’t want Jenny to think I’m abandoning her,” is the oncologist’s reply when questioned by the palliative physician about a chemotherapy procedure meant to reduce the tumor discovered on Jenny’s brain. Such reply presents the idea of prescriptions being more than a way for doctors to make money in their practice.

As the author points out, physicians are trained to identify, diagnose and treat illnesses. They are thoroughly trained in the ways of evaluating and prescribing solutions that will alleviate physical pain and suffering. Physicians, however, are at a loss for words when treatments do not work and a patient’s illness progresses to the point of death. Instead of providing comfort during these times of helplessness, doctors will often prescribe treatments that are ineffective and even more painful for the patient. Many criticize such practices without understanding that these actions are a physician’s effort to maintain the bond established between them and the patient.

Unfortunately, little training is provided in the way of counseling when treatment does not go as planned. While doctors are trained to provide quality physical care, they are given little instruction when it comes to giving patients emotional support when remedies fail. It is my opinion that medical school should be the place where more focus is placed on providing emotional comfort to patients with terminal illnesses. Although they are hopeful that the results of treatments rendered will be positive, many patients with diseases such as cancer understand that their diagnosis will more than likely end in death. It is, therefore, the desire of such persons to establish and build positive relationships with their physician and loved ones. This is why Jenny requested to see her oncologist near the end of her life.

Another factor involved with overtreatment is the incentives that doctors are offered. Although meant to encourage proper prescriptions that are in the best interest of the patient, such incentives often lead to physicians ordering treatments that are neither beneficial nor effective. This is why I think that encouraging doctors to cultivate relationships established between themselves and their patients would cause them to understand the lifestyles that their clients carry outside of the office, which would lead to more need-based prescriptions and less incentive driven orders.

While it is important to take training received in medical school to heart and use it to its fullest when diagnosing patients and prescribing treatments, doctors should never overlook the human interaction that comes along with being a professional in the healthcare industry. Ordering unnecessary care is a poor way to cultivate the patient-physician bond. Instead, it is in the best interest of the doctor, and patient, to specialize in comforting the terminally ill individual when all methods of treatment have been exhausted.