Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Ministry of High Education

King Faisal University
College of Medicine 213

213-

PD3.01 Khalid E. Alhumam 213117111 - 29

Physicians and any medical educators are expected by a multiple of constituencies to
consistently demonstrate professional behavior. The medical professional conduct is a core element of
being a good physician . The good medical practice is based on the professionalism and integrity of the
physician;s job, and on their relationship of trust between the profession and society, in which
physicians are expected to meet the highest standards of professional practice and behavior. The
consultation skills is described as 'the central act of medicine' which 'deserves to be understood. It is
clear that the interaction between physicians and patients is central and so on in the relationship
between physicians and patients.
Professional competence is the habitual and judicious use of communication, knowledge,
technical skills, clinical reasoning, emotions, values, and reflection in daily practice for the benefit of
the individual and community being served. Professionalism simply means that the relationship
between medicine and society as it forms the basis of patient-physician trust. Some examples of the
characteristics and features that should be in a good doctor in order to be professional person ,such as
respect for patient, fully supportive openness and having commission & caring.
Dual role of physician !
Physicians have two rules, as a professional and as a healer. First, as a professional person the
characteristics that should be found are, that the doctor should display ethical behavior in all activities.
Also, he should be honest with the patient and treat him/her in moral way. Second, altruism, which

means the doctors should be unselfish at all therefore, the doctor should be place the needs of patient
before ones self-interest. On the other hand , as a healer, the doctor should show care and empathy by
understanding patients thoughts and feelings because he is dealing with a human being not an object.
Third, the doctor should be attentive and listen to the patient actively and carefully.
After watching the movie Death of Mr. Lazarescus and according to what I saw, apparently
that the patient wasn't the first priority to the medical staff. First, he wasn't taken seriously and he
wasn't treated well by the nurse who was in the ambulance. That meant or showed how much she
lacked in being professional. So on, the 3 hospitals that he visited were overcrowded and most of
doctors ignored his condition specially when they knew that he was alcoholic and that made receiving
the medical services harder and harder. Moreover, the doctor that checked the patient first was very
disrespectful. He spoke rudely to patient and it was as if he a god when talking to anyone. He didn't
behave appropriately or even seriously. Also, he didn't show any respect to the patient thoughts and
habits, in fact, he made fun of his habits. So, none of the physicians bothered to take care of the patient
or to treat him politely even though the patient was disoriented, incapable of making decision and
needed immediate medical care. On the other hand, the female doctor who was the only one took the
patient seriously and considered the case as an emergency case and called the neurologist. The
radiologist was nice to the patient and treated him professional too.
The purpose of professional acts is to promote the safety of patients and to improve the quality
of health care services. According to the types of professional acts, there is the obligatory type, such as
maintaining the patients confidentiality and autonomy. Its mandatory for professionals to promote and
maintain health, to prevent illness, to cure those who are ill and to end their suffering. Its forbidden for
some providers to do some actions like nurses prescribing medications without having the right to do so

or doctors taking a brief history, which may lead to a false diagnosis or may lead to a critical situation
and death like in the case. There is an additional act called supererogatory where it is good to do it but
normally its not required to be done like doctors who spend longer time in hospital due to the lack of
staff. Supererogatory acts are highly controversial and cannot be captured by a strict formal definition.
In conclusion, applying good medical professional conduct plays an important role in
maintaining integrity and professionalism of medicine. Nonetheless, applying consultation skills is very
important to build a good relationship between the doctor and the patients. A good professional
interaction between the doctor and patient is very important to insure the quality of the relationship
between the doctor and patient.