Since the beginning of human life, medicine has always existed in the society.
Earlier when men used to gather in tribes or bands or groups there was always someone who was known to be the medicine man.
The medicine man either prescribed herbs or danced to chase evil spirits away or chanted or prescribed potions to get rid off evil spirits and wake up good spirits.
Being the centre of the society he always cared about the good health and well being of his fellow men.
Those days the doctors had very sharp observation and were well aware of the surrounding world.
They would understand on which herbs could be ingested in the human body or which ones could be put on injuries.
Even today doctors have to observe their patients very well when they take updates on their health or examine them before they arrive on a diagnosis.
Since the beginning doctors are gifted with two major strengths.
One is that they exceptional observation skills.
The other is the way they maintain a relation with their patients.
Their first skill helps them to arrive at a proper diagnosis and prescribe medicines for the disease whereas the second one enables them to convey any bad news about the health of the patient to him or his family members.
In today's times medicines are getting more complex and heath care is getting more and more expensive.
This is coupled with an uncertainty on how the society will deal with such issues.
Due to this it is not much desired to become a doctor.
The sad part of this is that not all M.
D.
qualified doctors deserve to practice due to their personality or their manners.
The profession of medicine requires the person who practices to be intelligent and well aware of his field and also he should be able to connect with people.
Hippocrates, who is considered to be the father of medicines has coined a phrase - "But first, do no harm.
" This suggests that the practitioner must never do any harm to his patients in his practice.
This was more important than any psychological pain to the families or patients due to the doctor not being able to convey bad news.
Our society is facing issues regarding high costs of health care and an aging population combined with a low physician pool.
Due to this there will be ethical issues on when the treatment of certain diagnosis is enough.
Irrespective of the answer to this question, the person delivering the conclusion will have to speak to the patient and family members and be responsible for the emotions due to the decision taken.
He will not be able to simply escape from the situation and leave the family to take control in the best possible way.
So you see medicine was never built on a 'who cares' attitude but a willingness to take interest and help.
Never earning money can be the only motive of medicine as a profession.
It has to be responsible for any harm it may cause to the patient.