Page 6, Portland Observer, July 22, 1987
Patients'Rights and the Changing Face
of Medicine
by Dr. Burnett Rucker, M.D.
but simple because they feel uncomfortable with his style.
But as well, doctors realize that anything that further demoralizes the
patient is going to be a hindrance to his rapid recovery. By consulting with
patients concerning their treatment, they are brought more decisively into
the medical process and thereby are less likely to feel overwhelmed and at
Today in America, we are healthier and we live longer. And people in
general are more health conscious-eating better, exercising more and
smoking less.
At the same time, the face of medicine is changing. On one hand, tech
nological advances and a better informed public continue to plummet death
statistics from such things as heart attack and strokes. Medicine has re
mained in the forefront of the high-tech revolution with computers and
sophisticated equipment, an indispensable part of the modern medical
odds with it.
Then too, there is perhaps a growing awareness on the part of patients
that there is no "standard" treatment for many ailments. Doctors argue
about the advantages and disadvantages of circumcision. Some are for it
and others against it. Some doctors will say to stay off a broken ankle;
others maintain that it should be walked upon as soon as possible. One
doctor will suggest heart surgery for almost anyone with a severe chest
pain. Another will tell you that drugs, diet and exercise will accomplish as
much as the surgery. Patients are realizing more and more that there is no
final authority to whom they can turn to find out what is best. They recog
nize that they are the ones, in many cases, who ultimately have to make up
their minds about what treatment they will receive. And that choice lies
practice.
And yet our attitudes as patients reflect a more humanized, less awe
struck regard for doctors. Today we are less likely to blindly follow their
advice. We are asking for far more information concerning treatments and
we are much more likely to demand a say in what those treatments will con
sist of. The relationship between doctor and patient approaches a joint
partnership more than ever before.
There is also a new emphasis, according to many doctors, on the patient
as a person rather than just on a specific disease or troubled organ. For one
thing, in the hospital environment, there is more time for the individual
patient. In 1970 the occupancy rate for U.S. hospitals was 80 percent, ac
cording to the American Hospital Association. By 1985 the figure had drop
ped to an average 69 percent and at times, some hospitals are only half full.
And the number of doctors generally, according to American Medical Asso
nation statistics, continues to increase faster than the population, a trend
that is predicted to continue at least until the turn of the century.
But the shift in emphasis has other reasons beyond simple resources.
Doctors themselves are becoming increasingly aware of the link between a
patient's mental attitudes and healing process according to Norman Cou
sins, the former Saturday Review editor and now a faculty member at the
UCLA Medical School. "People's attitudes about illness and life itself have
biochemical effects," he recently told The Wall Street Journal. You and I
have cancer cells, but our body is equipped to deal with it. But at times our
immune systems are impaired, and whatever enemies are inside us establish
first and probably foremost in the choice of a doctor.
While the majority of doctors (more than 60 percent) continue to operate
in the traditional office-based setting, there appears to be a growing open-
mindedness amongst medical practitioners toward the various methods
available to cater to the "w hole" patient.
In Los Angeles, for instance, the Shaw Health Center now offers a range
of services on the same premises with a team that includes medical doctors,
chiropiactors, and homeopaths. As well, several of the doctors are also
trained in L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics technology, giving them an exper
tise in mental aspects of psychosomatic illness and a thorough appreciation
of the mental factors, such as stress, which can help to precipitate illness.
The explosion of interest in such technologies as Dianetics as well as the
whole question of proofing up the immune system will probably, in the
years to come, push medicine even further toward a holistic and more pre
a beachhead."
There is a trend in the field of medicine to pay a great deal more attention
to patient rights. For one thing, doctors realize that patients will sometimes
change doctors, not because they feel their current doctor is incompetent,
(Ainsworth Ft Albina)
281-3576
Sunday Bible Lessons.......................................................i v m a m
Sunday Worship Service................................................. 11 J "
Wednesday Prayer Hour...................................................6:30 P.M.
Friday Bible Studies Class.......................................................
Recreation A ctivitie s
• Participation in the State Games of Oregon
• Compete in the Portland Basketball League
• Camping hiking and retreat facility
accessible to church groups and families
• Family social hour weekly activity
Dr Rucker is a staff physician in two Los Angeles h o s iiita ls ____
Swim Lesson Registration
Herb C aw thorne, o utg oing President o f the Urban League of P ort
land thanked his and the League's supporters at a reception held
fo r him at the N o rth w e s t Natural Gas Co. last w eek. The statue of
"P o rtla n d ia " was a g ift fro m the Urban League Board of D irectors.
Photo by Richard J. Brown
The Portland Park Bureau is offering swim lessons at 12 neighborhood
swim pools. Registration begins Wednesday, July 22, at 7:00 P M. at each
of the pools. The dates of the Monday through Friday lessons are July 27
through August 7 and August 10 through August 21. Children three years
and older may participate in the program. Classes for the non-swimmer
through intermediate level are offered.
Cost for the ten, thirty minute lessons is $12.00. The classes have one
instructor to six students ratio. The swimming lessons are offered at Cres
ton, Southeast 44th Avenue and Powell Boulevard; Montavilla, Northeast
82nd Avenue and Glisan Street; Mount Scott, Southeast 72nd Avenue
and Harold Street; Pier, North Seneca Street and St. Johns Avenue; Sell
wood, Southeast Seventh Avenue and Harold Street; Metropolitan Learn
ing Center, 2033 N.W. Glisan Street; Buckman, 320 S.E. 16th Avenue;
Columbia, North Lombard Street and Chautaqua Blvd; Dishman, 77 N.E.
Knott St; Grant, Northeast 33rd Place and Thompson Street; Peninsula,
North Albina Avenue and Portland Blvd; and Wilson, 1151 S.W. Vermont
Harold Bishop, M in iste r
■Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the
prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize."
1 Gor».z»iwivi
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ventative approach.
In our high-tech age, medicine will on the one hand continue to find new
and better treatments for specific ailments. There will be more outpatient
surgery. There will be more forms of non-invasive surgery using such
things as lasers to avoid or minimize cutting into the body to remove parts
of organs. But the trend, as well, will continue toward a more humanized
less technical and more involved stance with patients.
Specialization, of course, will continue as the only way that medicine in
general can hope to keep up with the innovations and new techniques. But
in the future, we might also begin to see a branch of medical specialists
who do not see the ill at all. Rather they will specialize in well people, work
ing to build and maintain the health and immune system of their patients.
But even today, the patient should realize that there are choices and dif
ferent options available to most medical situations. Selecting a doctor is no
longer just a question of medical competence. It also involves the question
of compatibility and outlook. If your doctor is not giving you the kind of in
formation and support that you would like, particularly when you are well,
then you might want to look around for a different one. Today, there is
more freedom of choice than ever before.
___________________ ____
Peninsula Park Christian Church
5949 N. Albina
*
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America's first aerial photograph was taken from balloon over Boston in
1860. Taken by J.W Black, it was entitled "Boston as the Eagle and the
Wild Goose See It."
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(O n e D a y S erv ice }
T H E M O U N T O L IV E T B A P T IS T C H U R C H
P R IC E S S T A R T IN G :
N.E. First ft Schuyler • 284-1954
John H Jackson, Minister, M Ed., M D
9 30 A M Church School
11 00 A M Congregational Worship
C A R P E T ......................................................................... »95.00 6 up
Convertible T o p ................................................................. ..
Body Side M o ld in g ..............................................................$30.00
H e a d lin e rs ........................................................................... $1™ ° °
5:00 P M Vesper Service
10 00 A M Baptism Fourth Sunday
11 00 Communion Each First Sunday
V inyl T o p s .............................................................................
Tonneau C o ve rs....................................................................
Seat R e p a ir...................................... ■_• • —
The American Baptist Convention, American Baptist Churches of
Oregon: Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention: National, Oregon,
Portland Ecumenical Ministries, American Bible Society, M .& M .
Board.
Price Includes Installation
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Lorù
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Tuesday
Bible Band
7 30 p m
Thursday
Choir Rehearsal
7 00 p m
Sunday
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Worship
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Tuesday Friday
11 15 a m
6 30 p m
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Prayer
Friday
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7 30 p.m .
Saturday
Morning Prayer
9 00am
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