ABSTRACT
The role of a clinician is not easily defined. Certainly, we may readily list key elements: we diagnose, we prescribe, we aim to reduce suffering. Or we may appeal to values we ascribe to ourselves, such as professionalism, integrity, and empathy. However, such elements and values are not unique to our trade; they pertain to many other professions, both in health and otherwise. The duties expected of us as part of our professional standards leave room for a variety of personal motivations and health perspectives, provided we keep the care of our patients as our first concern; we take action wherever this is compromised, and we promote and protect health. These duties ask us to be our patients’ advocate and fulfil the social contract that exists between society and medicine, with society expecting from us the services of a healer.
This chapter explores further:
What it means to be a clinician; the neglected breadth of the role of health professionals, and the importance of medical advocacy.
How training heavily influences perceptions of duties and highlights how non-clinical actions that combat inequity and socioeconomic determinants of poor well-being need to be actively encouraged throughout medical education.
Medicine’s social contract and daily changes we might attempt to ensure that our patients, regardless of their means, achieve the best standard of health possible.
The concept of learned helplessness and how helpful medical advocacy can be in combating this phenomenon.
