Medical Students' Views on the White Coat: A South African Perspective on Ethical Issues

There is a debate regarding the use of the white coat, a traditional symbol of the medical profession, by students. In a study evaluating final-year South African medical students' perceptions, the white coat was associated with traditional symbolic values (e.g., trust) and had practical uses (e.g., identification). The coat was generally perceived to evoke positive emotions in patients, but some recognized that it may cause anxiety or mistrust. Donning a white coat generally implied a responsibility to the profession. For a few, without the coat, patients would not cooperate, resulting in some perceiving no need to be distinguished from qualified practitioners. There was thus some evidence of entitled (vs. earned) respect. In the light of the underresourced health care setting in which these students learn clinical medicine, we recommend that students be able to recognize the potential for unprofessional or unethical behavior. Students should also be able to identify role models.     

Motives for Choosing a Career in Teaching: A South African Study

The study investigated motives for teaching career entry by students (n= 232, males= 103, females= 129, mean age 23) at a large South African university. Data were collected using a career motives survey differentiating extrinsic, intrinsic and altruistic motivators. Extrinsic motivators scored higher than intrinsic or altruistic motivators. The motives advanced for teaching were in alignment with those reported in similar research carried out in metropolitan and developing countries.     

Powerful Occupational Therapists: A Community of Professionals, 1950–1980

A powerful community of therapists changed occupational therapy in the United States between 1950 until 1980. These innovators, primarily women, strategically positioned themselves to market the emerging profession. These therapists, categorized as theorists and futurists, political movers and new and old guard sustainers, determined occupational therapy's direction. Participating in the 1950s rehabilitation, the 1960s equal rights, and the 1970s women's movements, the community of therapists separated from the male-dominated medical model to gain professional and scientific authority. An internal tension arouse between those therapists embracing an objective, and arguably male, science and those supporting a characteristically feminine caring philosophical base.     

Ethical Guidelines for Mass Trauma and Complex Humanitarian Emergencies

Issues pertaining to trauma, especially mass trauma and complex humanitarian emergencies, are explored through the lens of ethical counseling guidelines. In mass trauma, particular attention must be paid to the experiences of both survivors and counselors to enhance understanding of ethical best practices and to emphasize the importance of contextual factors in framing effective responses to trauma and humanitarian crises. Recommendations regarding ethical guidelines for counseling practice, clinical involvement, and training are offered.     

病历书写中的质量缺陷

病历书写中的质量缺陷存在于主诉、病史、体格检查、病程记录、诊断等各个方面。提高医学生病历书写质量及临床思维能力,是完成高质量病历书写的关键。同时病历书写有关的法律、法规相继出台,对病历书写提出了新的挑战。     

The Economic, Political, Strategic, and Rhetorical Uses of Simple Constructive Dilemma in Legal Argument

The author argues that simple constructive dilemma is a valuable argument form for reasoning under relative conditions of uncertainty. When applied to legal argument this value of simple constructive dilemma is shown in its political, strategic, rhetorical, and especially economic, uses by lawyers and judges. After considering some examples of the use of the form by trial lawyers, the author gives examples of the more interesting use of the form by appellate courts. Research into the use of simple constructive dilemma by appellate courts helps us to understand how those courts distribute judicial resources. It also helps us to understand the political role of the appellate courts with respect to the doctrine of the separation of powers. Given some of the specific examples of legal reasoning used by the appellate courts presented in this article, and given the discussion of the doctrine of precedent, the article’s focus is on common law legal systems of the Anglo-American-type.     

医疗市场化失败后的法律和伦理思考

法律上对于医疗机构的民事主体定位,虽然暂时满足了医疗市场化的需要,但却淡化了医疗机构所应承担的公共伦理职责.私权与公共伦理之间的剧烈冲突,最终使得医疗市场化走向终结.     

论英美医事法立法体系

我国现阶段的有关医疗方面的法律、法规,在整个医疗卫生活动中起到了规范和制约的作用,但仍不完善。了解国外医事立法的历史和现状,有利于我国医事立法工作的开展。从英美法系医事立法出发,对英美法系的医事立法进行讲解和论述,从而起到借鉴的作用。     

Taking Law Seriously: Starting Points of the Hart/Devlin Debate*

The famous mid-20th century debate between Patrick Devlin and Herbert Hart about the relationship between law and morality addressed the limits of the criminal law in the context of a proposal by the Wolfenden Committee to decriminalize male homosexual activity in private. The original exchanges and subsequent contributions to the debate have been significantly constrained by the terms in which the debate was framed: a focus on criminal law in general and sexual offences in particular; a preoccupation with the so-called “harm principle,” a sharp delineation of the realms of law and morality, and a static conception of the relationship between them. This article explores the limitations imposed by these various starting-points and argues for a holistic and symbiotic understanding of the relationship between law and morality. * Thanks to Tony Connolly, Leighton McDonald and Niki Lacey for penetrating and suggestive comments on previous versions.     

医学职业显规则何以不再“败走麦城”

近些年来,医学职业显规则接连受挫,医学职业生态呈现非常态甚至反常态。其根本原因在于,医学职业显规则与潜规则二者并存且此消彼长。职业规则是职业精神的核心。若要真正颠覆医学职业潜规则,让医学职业显规则回归医学职业生活,从而恢复或重构医学职业精神,就必须克服现存的医学职业显规则的致命性缺欠,进行自身优化,即强化自己的权威性、情境性与实用性。