Do doctors take an oath?

As an important step in becoming a doctor, medical students must take the Hippocratic Oath. And one of the promises within that oath is “first, do no harm” (or “primum non nocere,” the Latin translation from the original Greek.)

What cultures refuse medical treatment?

Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christian Scientists are the two most common religious doctrines that may dictate treatment refusal, limitation, or preference for prayer.

Why do different countries have different health care?

Around the world, health-care systems differ widely. Countries adopt different systems to provide health care to their citizens, with different levels of government and private sector involvement. The crucial result is that the services exist—and that people can access and afford them.

What is the difference between “treating the patient and the disease”?

The difference is huge, and rarely recognized. At the practical level, treating the patient rather than the disease means considering what’s important to the individual patient and keeping that in mind when deciding how to proceed.

What is the difference between traditional and conventional medicine?

The term traditional, although used quite commonly, seems somewhat inaccurate, given that many alternative medical disciplines have been around for thousands of years, while many conventional practices have been around much less than a century. Most of these terms, actually, are only relevant in the context of Western culture.

What are some criticisms of traditional medicine?

A common criticism of traditional medicine is that medical doctors treat symptoms, such as pain or fever, without searching for the root cause and that they tend to give medications to try to mask these symptoms. This is not entirely true.

Can manage manage a patient’s ailment make a difference?

Managing a patient’s ailment may not alleviate the patient’s suffering. Changing our focus can make a world of difference.