The Right Road for Medicine (John Ring, MD)

I do not know much about the AMA, but if this short publication of Ring's truly illustrates AMA sentiment, I must say, I am pleasantly surprised.

For me, medicine is definitely a service profession. I was impressed by Ring's appall at the modern move from this mindset to that of medicine as purely business. I recall in nursing school when we were encouraged to call our patients "clients" instead. The intention was to empower the individual to engage in their health and the health care process. The patient as a consumer of health care. But I never employed this verbiage. The nurse-patient (and now doctor-patient) relationship is sacred to me, and to me, the word patient does not indicate a reliance on me but rather it reminds me of my professional responsibility and personal joy to be a compassionate aide in their healing process.

I hope that Ring's perspective represents that of his fellow AMA physicians and of the profession as a whole.