Reflection on Respect and Sensitivity: Opinion Essay

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As for respect and sensitivity, I first took a look at Cambridge Dictionary for a definition.

According to Cambridge Dictionary, the definition of respect includes being polite and caring while the definition of sensitivity consists of someone being understanding and helpful (Cambridge Dictionary, n.d.). I noted that respect and sensitivity are values that do go hand in hand. Through research, I’ve found that in medicine, there are a few ways a medical professional and a medical student can show respect and sensitivity to others.

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We can show respect by respecting the patient’s autonomy. This is a principal of biomedical ethics. Respect for autonomy has been defined as a need to respect the decisions made by adults with decision-making capacity (The Ethics Centre, 2017). One way to illustrate this principal is to look at a court case, Madrigal v. Quilligan. In Madrigal v. Quilligan, 10 Latina women sued a county hospital in Los Angeles County, California for making them undergo sterilisation without obtaining their informed consent. On top of the forced sterilisation, there were testimonies on how disrespectful and insensitive the medical personnel were. The case caused a public outcry and subsequent reformations to reproductive rights of women (Matt, 2018). Additionally, when a doctor respects the patient’s autonomy, the doctor is also showing sensitivity to the patient’s decisions and the circumstances surrounding those decisions. This is important because when a doctor is respectful and sensitive, it promotes trust in the doctor – patient relationship and allows for both parties to work together better (Frosch & Ming, 2014).

We can also show respect by respecting the patient’s confidentiality. This is because patient’s clinical information are highly sensitive and it is essential to ensure that there are no breaches in confidentiality through improper disclosure (Beltran-Aroca, et al., 2016). Furthermore, when we respect the patient’s confidentiality, we are being sensitive to the privacy needs of the patient. It is imperative to uphold this because the leakage of sensitive information can yield consequences on the patient. For example, leakage of a patient being HIV positive can affect the patient’s reputation, future opportunities and cause ignominy (Beltran-Aroca, et al., 2016). This would make the patient less willing to share such sensitive information in future consultations which would affect the care received and their health (Bord, 2014). On a broader scale, the respect for confidentiality is to ensure that society has faith in the healthcare system. If people know that the medical profession upholds such respect and sensitivity at a high regard, people would know that their rights to privacy is secured and would be more confident and trusting to those in the medical profession (Bord, 2014).

We can also be respectful and sensitive by being unconditional and non-judgemental to patients (Frosch & Ming, 2014). For example, one of our patients has a need to lose weight but still continues to pursue unhealthy eating habits. Instead of criticising her and forcing her to follow our advice, we should first treat her with respect and sensitivity by finding out the underlying reason behind her unhealthy eating habits. By being sensitive to her circumstances, she might give a real reason as to why she can’t follow a weight loss plan well. Perhaps, the patient is suffering from depression and eats as a way to cope. Once we are aware of the underlying reason, we can then try to find other ways to help her lose weight. By not forcing a patient to conform to our own beliefs and instead, trying to understand why a patient might be behaving in a certain way, we can actually promote health.

There is also a need have a culture of respect in the medical profession. This is similar to what I reflected during my placement in the PICU of NUH where I saw the medical team in the PICU have a healthy level of respect towards one another. They were also sensitive to each other’s opinions. With regards to this respect, we first have an obligation to respect everyone. This is simply a right that people have. For example, doctors should respect the duty and role that nurses play and vice versa. If this basic respect is not present, people might feel that they are expendable or perceived as merely tools. This disrespect can create a depressing environment that leads to unhappiness and even burnout. Additionally, there is also respect given to those who have earned it by going above the call of duty. If medical personnel know that they are respected by going the extra mile and doing it well, they would feel a sense of accomplishment that their achievements are recognised. This could encourage more people to do so which benefits the entire healthcare system as a whole (James, 2018).

My research has also pushed me a step further by taking into account a specific form of sensitivity known as ‘cultural sensitivity’. Due to globalisation and the rate of immigration between countries, cultural sensitivity is especially relevant in today’s world. For example, in Australia, the Net Overseas Migration in 2015 represented 54.3% of Australia’s population growth. Though most of these migrants come from the UK, there is an increasing number from Asia (Philips & Simon-Davies, 2016). This means that there will be many people from different countries and cultures mixed in the general community.

To be culturally sensitive, one must first be culturally aware. A person who is culturally aware would know the differences between culture and understand why someone with a certain culture would behave in a certain way (Brinkmann, 2017). For example, understanding why a patient who is a Jehovah’s Witness would not agree to a blood transfusion. Medical professionals that are culturally aware would take a step back and think of how their behaviour would affect a patient with a certain culture. After being culturally aware, a medical professional can be culturally sensitive by combining cultural knowledge and understanding with his or her own’s behaviour (Brinkmann, 2017). For example, a culturally sensitive medical professional would be first aware that for some Muslims, the final decision-making falls to the male family member. That member might be deemed to have a greater say than the patient (Brooks & Al-Mutair, 2013). Though this goes against the whole idea on respect for autonomy, the culturally sensitive medical professional would still ensure that his or her own communication, behaviour and offered choices would have such knowledge and awareness imbued in them. Culturally sensitivity is important because it shows respect to the patient. It shows to the patient that a medical professional takes time to know more about different cultures and how it shapes the way the professional should interact with a patient and the patient’s close ones. This might cause the patient to feel more at ease with the medical professional. If a medical professional is culturally insensitive, the relationship with the patient would be tarnished. Other than breeding ill-feeling, there might be misunderstandings when the cultures of the doctor and the patient do not match. This might lead to the patient not following the doctor’s recommendations well which would ultimately affect the patient’s health (Brooks, Manias & Bloomer, 2018).

Based on what I have learnt through my reflection and research, I have come up with a few points on how I can use what I have learnt through my time in medical school.

Firstly, I have learnt that medical professionals who supress the myriad of emotions they experience in their work may experience consequences to their emotional wellbeing. In medical school, I will be experiencing a high level of rigour and demand from my coursework. I still want to succeed but also succeed in a ‘safe’ way.

Firstly, I could commit to writing weekly self-reflections. With reflections, I will be able to critically think through my experiences. Through critical thinking, I would gradually know what could be improved and what I did right. For example, being rude to someone just because I was having a bad day is certainly not a way to display medical professionalism. With reflection, I will be able to pick these lessons out, correct myself and develop greater empathy (Kerasidou & Horn, 2016). I can evaluate what I’ve done by letting a 3rd party view these reflections. It could be a counsellor or a tutor or student support from the medical school. These people have more experience and having an outsider view of things can give me a good 2nd opinion, advice, support and encouragement (Kerasidou & Horn, 2016).

Secondly, I can find a support group by finding a group of likeminded friends. It is highly recommended for medical professionals to have a strong group support system that they can depend on. (Kerasidou & Horn, 2016). These support groups help them voice their emotional concerns amongst people who can empathise with them (Robinson, 2019). Similarly, I believe I can do the same while studying medicine. We can study together, share our concerns with one another and have fun together. This is to avoid myself from bottling up my emotions and ensure that I have healthy outlets. A way to evaluate the outcome of deciding to find a support group is to see if the friends I choose are likeminded, trustworthy friends whom I know can work hard and play hard. I can also evaluate by seeing what kind of support do my friends provided. For example, are they fair weathered friends or friends who are committed to stick together through thick and thin? On top of having good friends, I believe in regular contact with my family back home too. Other than strengthening relationships over long distances, my family members also provide good support for me.

As for developing greater respect and sensitivity to people, I believe that a good way to do this is through volunteer work. Through my reflection, I realised that first hand exposure through volunteerism helps me to develop greater respect and sensitivity towards those in society who needs an extra helping hand. This is because volunteerism enables people to meet people from all walks of life, be it those who need our help and other likeminded volunteers. This exposure will help me to develop greater awareness towards different cultures and lifestyles (Volunteering Victoria, 2019). Additionally, as I interact with different people, my knowledge and understanding will be better integrated with my actions, thoughts and words. For example, I could join the the Australian Red Cross (ARC). In ARC, there are volunteer work that consists of helping many kinds of people such as newly-arrived migrants. As for keeping check on me, I can find a mentor with the ARC to guide me through my volunteer work. This would be similar to the guidance I received from Jane, the senior volunteer in Touch Ubi. Through regular feedback from my volunteer mentor, I can ensure that I am constantly learning, improving and being aware of my respect and sensitivity towards other people from different backgrounds.

In conclusion, I have learned much through my reflection and research with regards to empathy, respect and sensitivity. To sum it up, they are essential to medical professionalism for many reasons. Therefore, it is through perseverance and discipline that I follow what I have outlined above to strengthen these values in me as I progress through the study of medicine.

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