Ethics of Human Resources Management in the Cameroonian Health System, Medical Nomadism and the Ineffectiveness of the Fight against High Blood Pressure

Context/objectives: The fight against Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) is a long-term undertaking, which requires available, motivated and well-managed human resources (HR). The administrative management of skills on both qualitative and quantitative levels is one of the essential functions of a health system. To better implement policies of fight against High Blood Pressure (HBP) and other chronic diseases, it is important to establish strategies to retain health personnel. This loyalty requires favorable working conditions and consideration of the contribution-reward couple. Good working conditions are likely to reduce the phenomenon of medical nomadism;conversely, poor HR management can contribute to their exodus towards exotic “green pastures”, thus leading to an additional crisis in the Cameroonian health system. The fight against HBP is a complex, multifaceted and multifactorial reality that requires appropriate management model for all types of resources mainly HR. The main objective of this research is to show the impact of poor management of human resources in Cameroon health system on medical nomadism and the ineffectiveness of the fight against High Blood Pressure. Method: A cross-sectional descriptive survey among five hundred (500) health facilities in the center region of Cameroon has been conducted. A stratified probabilistic technique has been used, and the number of health facilities to be surveyed has been determined using the “sample size estimation table” of Depelteau. The physical questionnaires have been printed and then distributed to data collectors. After data collection, the latter were grouped during processing in Excel sheets. The Chi-square test was used for data with a qualitative value and that of Kolmogorov-Sminorf for data with a quantitative value to assess the normality and reliability of data. The Crochach’s Alpha reliability test allowed us to have a summary of the means and variances and then to search for intragroup correlations between variables. Descriptive analysis was possible with the XLSTAT 2016 software. Results: 43.60% of Health Facilities (HF) managers were unqualified. 82.20% of HF managers have staff in a situation of professional insecurity. They are mainly contractual (49.00), decision-making agents (24.40%), casual agents (08.80). The proportion of unstable personnel is average of 22.00% and very unstable, 12.00%.

Designing a medical ethics curriculum in ophthalmology

Ethical principles form a bedrock to medical practice in any specialty,guiding physicians to appropriate attitudes and behaviors.A formal ethics curriculum can be difficult to generate de novo in an ophthalmology training program.A number of barriers exist in most ophthalmology departments:trainees may think ethics is of secondary importance compared to core basic and clinical science topics;most ophthalmology faculty have no formal degree in medical ethics;there is limited didactic time with competing academic,clinical,and surgical priorities;work-hours regulations may limit the time available to deliver“para-professional”lectures;and there is a belief that the medical ethics lectures during medical school is a sufficient amount of coursework to last through a physician’s career with no need for continuing professional development.The four pillars of medical ethics are beneficence,non-maleficence,autonomy,and justice.In addition,morals,ethics,and professionalism are important aspects of sound medical practice.A curriculum specific to medical ethics in ophthalmology can be developed in any of our sub-specialties and include lectures,curated readings,case rounds,and clinic wrap-up sessions.Ethical considerations are part of everyday clinical practice,and a structured ethics curriculum can be incorporated into ophthalmology training programs.The concept of backward design can be used to structure the curriculum,starting with the expected outcome,then designing authentic assessments,and finally putting together a learning plan that has students actively involved in ethical discussions.This paper will provide a guide to developing an ethics curriculum for an ophthalmology training program utilizing the concept of backwards design and guide the reader through the process of developing expected learning outcomes,authentic assessments,and a unified learning plan.

Medical Ethics: Context Is the Key Word

Medical Ethics is no different to Ethics, but relates specifically to the doctor-patient relationship. This relationship is based on mutual trust—trust in the doctor’s expertise and knowledge and trust that the patient is consulting the doctor, for his/her/their own health, wellbeing and welfare, without agenda or bias. In other words, the basis of the doctor-patient relationship is one of mutual trust and confidence. Thus, what is imparted between them is held in the strictest confidence. The doctor must act within the law. No third party influence can be brought to bear on this relationship without the patient’s consent. In the case of minors the relationship is between the child’s guardians as well as the doctor who must act within the law. In the category of “elderly” or adult guardianship or advocacy, those appointed and in positions of trust must take the person’s wishes into account if the patient has capacity to make decisions or has indicated their wish prior to any such appointment. Capacity is defined as consistent belief or wish, awareness of what one does not wish for, satisfaction when wishes are respected and fulfilled and the opposite when they are not. Ethical practice is determined by taking context into account in decision-making and ensuring the sanctity of the patient’s rights and wishes. Abuse is just the opposite, where actions taken or not taken are against a person’s wishes. Personal wish determines best interest. Best interest may also be defined in terms of social functioning and psychological wellbeing. Discussion of ethics in terms of General Systems Theory is also addressed, and affects an action on the environment or others, i.e. ethics in the wider medical context may pertain if the person has a contagious disease and a period of quarantine or “isolation” or barrier” nursing is required, and where precedent is given to society’s best interest over the person’s wishes, as part of an educational process and as required for strategic disease management.

Patients＇ Responsibilities in Medical Ethics

There has been a shift from the general presumption that ＂doctor knows best＂ to a heightened respect for patient autonomy. Medical ethics remains one-sided, however. It tends （incorrectly） to interpret patient autonomy as mere participation in decisions, rather than a willingness to take the consequences. In this respect, medical ethics remains largely paternalistic, requiring doctors to protect patients from the consequences of their decisions. This is reflected in a one-sided account of duties in medical ethics. Medical ethics may exempt patients from obligations because they are the weaker or more vulnerable party in the doctor-patient relationship. We argue that vulnerability does not exclude obligation. We also look at others ways in which patients＇ responsibilities flow from general ethics： for instance, from responsibilities to others and to the self, from duties of citizens, and from the responsibilities of those who solicit advice. Finally, we argue that certain duties of patients counterbalance an otherwise unfair captivity of doctors as helpers.

Medicine as Profession： An Overlooked Approach to Medical Ethics

This article begins with three problems of ＂dual loyalties＂ in medicine, the supposed fact that military physicians are, as medical officers, sometimes required to do what violates ordinary medical ethics--for example, ignore medical need in order to treat their own wounded before civilians or wounded enemy, help make chemical or biological weapons more deadly, or assist at a rough interrogation. These problems are analyzed as special cases of a problem that could arise in any profession, a problem easily resolved using a theory of professional ethics （more or less） absent from medical ethics until now though common outside. Employing a physician--rather than an ordinary officer, some other kind of healer, or scientist--is to enter a sort of ＂Ulysses contract＂ requiring the physician＇s professional standards to preempt obligations otherwise applying to an employee. In this way, the article also illustrates the benefits that might accrue to medical ethics from drawing （more than is now common） on other fields of practical ethics.

Characteristics and achievements of the Xin'an Medical School

The Xin'an Medical School began in the Jin Dynasty(266-420),developed in the Song Dynasty(960-1279),prospered in theMing and Qing dynasties(1368-1911),and has been passed down to the modern era.As a school of medicine with distinct regional characteristics,it has contributed to the development of traditional Chinese medicine and exerted farreaching influence,mainly in literature resources,medical theory,clinical application,and spiritual culture.This paper intends to discuss its academic characteristics and contribution to the development of traditional Chinese medicine,focusing on its formation,academic inheritance and innovation,overseas popularization,and integration of Confucianism,Taoism,and Buddhism in medicine.

Medical ethics w.s.r to ayurveda

With nearly 5,000,000 Indians dying due to medical negligence every year.there is a circular relationship between nature and humankind because human concepts are nature’s concepts. Human technological and economic inventiveness is no more than nature’s way of acting upon itself and shaping its own future. The outcome could be glorious success or disastrous failure - in either case, nature acting through humankind bears partial responsibility for the outcome. A basic knowledge of how judicial forums deal with the cases relating to medical negligence is of absolute necessity for doctors. The need for such knowledge is more now than before in light of higher premium being placed by the Indian forums on the value of human life and su ffering, and perhaps rightly so. Judicial forums, while seeking to identify delinquents and delinquency in the cases of medical negligence, actually aim at striking a careful balance between the autonomy of a doctor to make judgments and the rights of a patient to be dealt with fairly.Agadatantra one among eight branches of ayurveda has given good references in regard to medcal ethics and also how to overcome the burden of medical negligence merely by identifying the treating doctor.

Reading Toni Morrison’s Home From the Perspective of Medical Relationship Ethics

As the first black women Nobel laureate,Toni Morrison has drawn great attention with her fascinating and deep-thinking novels.Her 10th novel Home vividly shows the racial suffering and the post-war trauma of black veteran Frank,who has drawn critical attention from various perspectives.However,there is hardly any scholarly focus on another major character Cee,whose experience of medical and racial discrimination actually constitutes another important clue throughout the whole story.Therefore,this paper intends to analyze Home from the perspective of ethical relationship ethics,including doctor-patient relationship,doctor-society relationship,patient-society relationship,and patient-family relationship.The analysis indicates that Home not only reveals the history of medical racial discrimination and human experiment ethics problems under the rapid development of medical technology in the 1950s,but also inspire readers’thinking on the ethical problems and ethical dilemmas in the contemporary world.

Rhazes’concepts on medical ethics

Ethics in any industry and profession,especially in medicine,is a matter of great concern and debatable.Ancient Persian Muslim doctors also did not neglect this issue,as they mentioned some points regarding the observance of medical ethics in most of their books.Rhazes'"Akhlaq al-Tabib"treatise is one of the most important manuscripts on medical ethics.Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyya Razi,known in the west as Rhazes,was a great Persian scientist and physician who lived in the 9th and 10th centuries AD.In the"Akhlaq al-Tabib"treatise,he wrote a collection of his guidelines and ideas about medical ethics.In this manuscript,Rhazes first mentioned the ethical qualities that the physician must admire,and then pointed out the ethical standards regarding treatment and patient's rights.The study found that the principles of tenth-century medical ethics are very similar to what is being said today.

Study on the Integration of Professional Ethics in Medical Interpretation Course Based on Situational Simulation Teaching Method and Virtual Reality Technology

Based on the theory of situational simulation,the article explores the approach to building the medical interpretation course from three aspects,which are the objective,design,and teaching model.The course aims to cultivate high-quality medical interpreting talents and enhance students’practical interpretation skills,as well as to integrate professional ethics into teaching.Thus,it is necessary for lecturers to change their teaching philosophy,apply information technology,and improve teaching design.Through rich medical interpretation course,lecturers can promote the integration of professional ethics in medical interpretation.

A Systematic Review of Cultural Preferences for Receiving Medical “Bad News” in the United States

According to the dominant models of medical ethics in the United States and many Western countries, physician disclosure of information such as diagnosis, treatment options, and prognosis is considered an essential precondition for patient informed consent. While being consistent with the principle of patient autonomy stressed in many Western healthcare systems, full disclosure—particularly of life-threatening diagnoses and poor prognoses—is inconsistent with the cultural values of many ethnic communities within the United States. A systematic review of research examining cultural preferences for disclosure of medical “bad news” was conducted. Results suggested that cultural preferences are more heterogeneous than has often been portrayed. Particularly when communicating with patients and families from culturally and ethnically diverse backgrounds, health care professionals should ask about preferences for receiving medical information and making treatment decisions.

The complicated life of a physician-soldier: Medical readiness training exercises &the problem of dual loyalties

While physicians are generally understood as owing moral obligation to the health and well being of their individual patients, military health professionals can face ethical tensions between responsibilities to individual patients and responsibilities to the military mission. The conflicting obligations of the two roles held by the physician-soldier are often referred to as the problem of dual loyalties and have long been a topic of debate. This paper seeks to enrich the dualloyalties debate by examining the embedded case study of medical civilian assistance programs. These programs represent the use of medicine within the military for strategic goals. Thus, a physician is expected to meet his obligation to his role as a soldier while also practicing medicine. These programs involve obligations inherent in both roles of the physician-soldier and thusly they serve as excellent exemplars for the problem of dual loyalties at an institutional level. This paper focuses on Medical Readiness Training Exercises (MEDRETEs). These programs are short-term, generally taking place in low-income nations in order to accomplish strategic goals including training opportunities for military medical professionals that are not possible on the home front. This form of temporary program raises ethical concerns regarding the exploitation of vulnerable populations and the value of what is termed “parachute medicine”. The short-term nature of these interventions makes long-term treatment and follow-up impossible, begging the question as to whether this peak and trough approach to foreign civilian aid is of any use. Physicians are generally understood as having obligations towards the well being of the patient, which these programs do not necessarily prioritize. Rather, the programmatic intent is military, with political and strategic aims of furthering international relations, increasing US military global presence and providing austere and tropical training opportunities for military healthcare providers. This can be morally problematic for the physician-soldier.

The Health Care Ethics: Overview of the Basics

In this overview we answers certain Questions in order to increase the awareness towards the basic of the health care ethics: what is ethics, what are the several fields of ethics connected to medical activities, what are the types of Ethical approaches in relation to the medical practice. Conclusion: Through understanding the basics of the ethics, the awareness of the medical ethics in the health care can be increased.

医学伦理学对科技伦理治理的贡献与新作为

《关于加强科技伦理治理的意见》的出台,标志着中国科技伦理治理体系进入新阶段。中国科技伦理的研究与实践是沿着两条进路开展的。一条进路是从一般伦理原理出发,推导出具体科学和实践的规则;另一条进路是从科学研究的问题和科学技术事件和案例出发,逐步形成针对科技过程中某一类特定现象或问题的伦理治理原则与共识。医学伦理学研究也是这样形成医学道德传统和现代生命伦理学传统的。在伦理治理实践中,医学伦理走在科技伦理的前列,形成了科技伦理研究与发展的“先行区”、伦理审查建制化“探索者”和科技伦理治理的“示范区”。伦理治理意见的出台不是医学伦理治理研究的终点,医学伦理学需要有新的作为。一是对医学伦理学理论基础和方法论的再思考,坚持马克思主义理论的指导。二是对两条研究进路的再思考,两条道路平衡发展互相支撑。三是对伦理与法治关系的再思考,不断提高伦理治理法治化水平。

医疗器械临床试验伦理审查意见的综合分析

目的:研究不同注册分类医疗器械临床试验研究中伦理初始审查意见,为今后医疗器械临床试验伦理审查材料准备提供参考。方法:回顾性收集北京首都医科大学附属北京潞河医院伦理委员会2018年至2023年1月医疗器械临床试验伦理初始审查意见,并对问题进行分类,比较不同类型问题在不同注册分类医疗器械临床试验研究中及新版《医疗器械临床试验质量管理规范》颁布实施前后的发生率的差异。结果:合计收集50份伦理初始审查意见,主要集中于与志愿者知情同意及安全和获益相关的问题。两类问题的发生率分别为80.00%和66.00%。同时,两类问题的发生率均在新版《医疗器械临床试验质量管理规范》实施后呈现明显下降趋势。结论:提示相关从业人员在临床试验伦理材料准备的时候一定要把志愿者的权益和保障放在首位,并且不断更新对法律法规的认识,以规范项目的伦理申报。

医疗机构伦理委员会实地访查实践与思考

实地访查是伦理委员会对临床研究实施情况的监督检查方式之一。作者从实地访查的具体实施要点和流程、有因访查和无因访查等访查类型、实地访查开展过程中各方人员的具体职责和访查内容、访查发现问题的讨论及反馈等方面,分享了伦理委员会通过实地访查及时发现研究过程中存在的问题,形成切实可行改进措施,达到保护研究参与者的目的。伦理委员会通过开展实地访查,可以协助临床专业科室及研究团队在临床研究项目准备或实施过程中遵守伦理原则,对医疗机构开展的临床研究进行实时质量控制,及时反馈项目存在的问题并落实整改。伦理委员会通过实地访查,了解临床研究开展的真实情况和实施过程中遇到的具体问题,及时解决,切实保护研究参与者的安全和权益。

“医学伦理学再启程”亟待破解的医学伦理课题

面临新境遇的医学伦理学,亟待破解的医学伦理课题有:医疗资本和医疗利益集团追求利润最大化的行为对公立医疗机构公益性造成持续性损害;医学高新技术僭越伦理底线,无限制地对身体进行技术干预;医学技术权力与医学高新技术、医疗资本结盟形成挑战医学伦理的异化力量;确立利益伦理是医学伦理学研究的重要内容;确认患者利益置于首位是现代医学伦理学的首要原则;促进美德伦理与规范伦理结合,推进制度伦理建设与机构伦理建设是医学伦理学落地生根的关键环节。

中国传统医德与中国现代医学伦理学研究

本文从伦理道德的视角溯流及源,辩证地分析“中国现代医学伦理学”“中国传统医德”“中国文化和中国哲学”三者在当代医疗领域中的意义,指出了“医乃仁术”经典格言中所蕴含的“医道”“医者”“医术”“医业”的四位一体,肯定了宋明理学把“道德伦理规范”视为宇宙“第一法则”的重大意义,进一步阐明了中华民族的“德性之源”是伴随着中华文化的传承而来的,并在新时期一如既往地展现其强大的道德精神力量。

新医科语境下医学伦理的实践挑战与理论突围

在全球范围和中国语境下开启的新医科范畴,推进了医学伦理的纵深发展并打开新的向度。医学伦理作为动态平衡且不断发展的概念,伴随医学使命而生。在新医科语境下,医学伦理面临来自以利益为主线、以知识权力和专业技术两翼构成的三维挑战。这种挑战植根于医学能力的提升,社会资本的介入,医生的专业权力以及生物科技融合发展带来的专业话语。实践挑战的本质是理论困境,解决实践难题根本上需要理论突围。需要建构基于责任伦理为关键词、以公共伦理融合个体道德、以专业伦理深化常识道德的医学伦理体系。

中医内科学课程思政探究——从医案医话中探索医德医风

“课程思政”改革是培养全方位高素质人才的必经之路。培养医学人才,“思政”“立德”尤为重要。中医内科学作为中医学的主干学科,是医学生跨入临床的启蒙课,对于塑造学生思想道德尤为重要。文章将医案医话作为载体,形成“1+1”多元化的教师团队,通过问题、故事及情景视频导入等多样化教学模式,分层教学。在传授知识的同时,潜移默化地塑造学生医德素养,培养综合性医学人才。