ABSTRACT
The philosophy and ethics of virtue is no lightweight affair. Healthcare without virtue becomes an industrial process, a medical production line. Healthcare workers feed patients into machines and increasingly begin to resemble them. The special nature of virtue in healthcare becomes clearer as we acknowledge the particular nature of our duties. Listing virtues is a personal affair, and some might argue a fruitless task. There is no right or wrong, and no way of resolving disputes. The patient has a right to expect truthfulness from healthcare professionals when it is genuinely asked for. Insight develops with age and experience, and is more likely if we know the patient well. Compassion is what makes healthcare ennobling and ultimately worthwhile. Enthusiasm is the lifeblood of any profession. Without enthusiasm, professional effort becomes repetitive and tedious and younger members catch disenchantment like any other infectious disease.
