2023-10-21 18:36:37
“Doctors use science as an instrument, that is, we instrumentalize it in favor of the health of our patients. However, we cannot say that the doctor is a scientist, since the majority do not do science; In other words, not everyone researches or produces knowledge. We can say, then, that the majority of doctors are science technicians.
The truth is that humanism cannot be separated from the essence of medicine, since the latter is, in itself, a human act.”.
In recent weeks, the case of a gynecologist in France who refused to treat a transgender woman in his office has been a trend on networks and news portals around the world.
Several of these news portals reported that the specialist in question considered that “He did not have the necessary training and felt unable to perform a medical examination on a trans person. Furthermore, he backed up his argument by stating that, scientifically, a man is a man and a woman is a woman, and that, despite the person’s gender identification, he will continue to maintain his belief that they are biologically a man..
This colleague has gotten into considerable trouble, because, as expected, the movements that demand the rights of the LGBTQ+ community exploded on social networks, accusing him of homophobia and transphobia for his attitude towards this very particular case.
And the discussion is not unfounded, since, although the doctor is right from a scientific point of view, he is not right from the point of view of humanism.
Doctors use science as an instrument, that is, we instrumentalize it in favor of the health of our patients. However, we cannot say that the doctor is a scientist, since the majority do not do science; In other words, not everyone researches or produces knowledge. We can say, then, that the majority of doctors are science technicians.
The truth is that humanism cannot be separated from the essence of medicine, since the latter is, in itself, a human act.
So, what is criticized regarding the doctor’s attitude? Or better yet, what do I blame for this colleague’s attitude? (It is best to address the topic in the first person, since that is what an opinion column is regarding.) The answer is the following: as a colleague, I reproach you for not having attended to your patient personally and for having, as we lawyers say, brought in a third party to explain the reasons why you were not going to attend to him, as stated on the website. El Tiempo in an article written by María Camila Salas Valencia on September 14 of this year.
The medical act is a human act, but it is a qualified human act, that is, it can only be performed by a doctor, not the doctor’s secretary. I reproach this colleague for having failed in his ethical duty to care for a patient and for having refused his duty to explain to him why he was not going to care for him. That is the least our patient deserves; look him in the face and talk to him like a human being.
This is what happens when we see medicine from scientific myopia and forget humanism.
Do not think that I am saying that a gynecologist is obliged to treat a transgender woman if she suffers from a purely male disease, such as the prostate, because yes, trans women can get prostate disease. It is evident that gynecologists do not treat this organ even if the carrier is a woman, but it is her duty to explain to this patient why it should not be him, but a urologist, who treats her. Shoemaker to her shoes.
Refusing to care for a patient in this very particular context (there may be others) is to reject that very special human act that caring for a patient entails, even if it is to inform them that you will not care for them because it falls outside their sphere of knowledge. Medicine involves a role that many doctors still do not understand well (I include myself out of empathy). We are also educators.
Oh, finally, I must clarify that the consultation must be charged. Yes, just as you read it, you should be charged for the consultation, and at full rate, even if it is to explain the reasons why we are not going to treat you, because doctors not only live from what we do, but also from what we do. we know.
P.D.
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#essence #medicine #science #humanism #Poniente
