Page 15 - 2019EthicBk

autonomy sometimes allows patients to relinquish that
autonomy and leave the decisions to their doctors. To put it
extremely, “patients frequently don't want the freedom that
we've given them.” Preserving kindness involves respecting
patients’ autonomy, but even when patients do want to make
their own decisions, there are times when the kind thing a
doctor can do is to steer hard and insist upon certain decisions.
I couldn’t agree more with the point that as doctors need to
learn the art of medicine, patients also should learn the art of
being a patient. A patient has to choose wisely when to submit
and when to assert himself. Nowadays, huge amounts of
information are easily accessible on the internet. Hence,
doctors have to recognize the issues for patients who bring the
information they googled into discussion, including the
reliability of the information, whether the information is
relevant enough, and how the individual patient’s goals and
preferences relate to the intervention. By appreciating how the
internet and other factors are currently transforming medical
relationships, doctors will be better able to meet their patients’
healthcare needs in the age of enhanced patient autonomy.

2019 年•醫學倫理•人文醫學•心得 5