doctor

…category concerns the relationship between doctor and patient, including issues that arise from conflicts between a doctor’s duty to promote the health of his patient and the patient’s right to self-determination or autonomy, a right that in the medical context is usually taken to encompass a right to be fully…

The term doctor, from the Latin verb docere, meaning “to teach,” emerged in the Middle Ages, when it was used to describe theologians who were qualified to teach religious doctrine. By the 14th century the title had been expanded to refer to all those who received a…

…is being treated by different physicians and one physician is not aware of the drug(s) that another has prescribed. Sometimes a physician may prescribe a drug to treat a symptom that actually is a side effect of another drug. Discontinuing the first drug is preferable to adding another that may…

…with the practice of the physician, as opposed to that of the surgeon. Internal medicine, which deals with the entire patient rather than a particular organ system, is in effect the parent of other medical specialties such as cardiology, dermatology, and gastroenterology. An advanced practitioner of internal medicine is called…

Physicians may also be expected to report certain patients or occurrences to public authorities. For example, some communicable diseases are required to be reported to public health officials. Suspected child abuse and gunshot wounds may have to be reported to an authority (such as the…

…persons requiring liability contracts include physicians and surgeons, lawyers, accountants, engineers, and insurance agents. Important differences between professional and other liability contracts are the following:

…patient in having his own doctor, who knows about his background, who has seen him through various illnesses, and who has often looked after his family as well. This personal physician, often a generalist, is in the best position to decide when the patient should be referred to a consultant.

Physicians, as a rule, must answer all questions since there is no common-law privilege regarding confidential information furnished by the patient. In some U.S. states an appropriate privilege has been created by legislation; again, it is the patient who is protected, and only he may…

Once the physician makes a diagnosis or identifies the most likely cause of the symptoms and decides on the appropriate treatment, an entirely new set of conditions becomes operative. One of the first conditions to be considered is the patient’s reason for seeking medical advice and the…