ABSTRACT
Medicine as an art acknowledges the patient as a human being, and the practice of medicine requires humanity on the part of the doctor. This chapter provides the view of the doctor as a scientific expert, and looks at the general practitioners (GP) moral and ethical place in society. This will necessarily entail speculation of the patients expectations of doctors as a professional group, and of his own doctor in particular. The chapter shows that GP's professional duties to his patients are of fundamental importance. The GP has a duty to provide an acceptable standard of care for his patients; an understanding of the ethical components of the interaction between patient and GP is crucial to the quality of care that the patient receives. The closeness and constancy of the relationship between GPs and their patients offers the GPs the privilege of learning much about their backgrounds, their families, their hopes, disappointments and expectations.
