M. Gregg Bloche | |
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Awards | Guggenheim Award (2005) |
Academic background | |
Education | |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Public health policy |
Institutions |
Maxwell Gregg Bloche [1] is an American legal scholar and psychiatrist. [2] [3] He is the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Health Law,Policy at the Georgetown University Law Center. [4]
Bloche received his B.A. from Columbia University, [5] where he was editor-in-chief of Columbia Daily Spectator ,J.D. from Yale Law School,and M.D. from Yale School of Medicine. He completed a residency in psychiatry at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York. [4]
Bloche's scholarship has focused on healthcare systems,healthcare policy,doctor-patient relationship, [6] and medical ethics. [7] [8] He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005 to write the book The Hippocratic Myth:Why Doctors Are Under Pressure to Ration Care,Practice Politics,and Compromise Their Promise to Heal, where he argued that the ethical doctrine of Hippocrates is becoming increasingly at odds with the role played by medical practitioners and policymakers as their power and authority grow in society. [9] [10] [11]
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility,testability,repeatability or evidence of effectiveness. Unlike modern medicine,which employs the scientific method to test plausible therapies by way of responsible and ethical clinical trials,producing repeatable evidence of either effect or of no effect,alternative therapies reside outside of mainstream medicine and do not originate from using the scientific method,but instead rely on testimonials,anecdotes,religion,tradition,superstition,belief in supernatural "energies",pseudoscience,errors in reasoning,propaganda,fraud,or other unscientific sources. Frequently used terms for relevant practices are New Age medicine,pseudo-medicine,unorthodox medicine,holistic medicine,fringe medicine,and unconventional medicine,with little distinction from quackery.
Hippocrates of Kos,also known as Hippocrates II,was a Greek physician and philosopher of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine. He is traditionally referred to as the "Father of Medicine" in recognition of his lasting contributions to the field,such as the use of prognosis and clinical observation,the systematic categorization of diseases,and the formulation of humoral theory. The Hippocratic school of medicine revolutionized ancient Greek medicine,establishing it as a discipline distinct from other fields with which it had traditionally been associated,thus establishing medicine as a profession.
The Hippocratic Oath is an oath of ethics historically taken by physicians. It is one of the most widely known of Greek medical texts. In its original form,it requires a new physician to swear,by a number of healing gods,to uphold specific ethical standards. The oath is the earliest expression of medical ethics in the Western world,establishing several principles of medical ethics which remain of paramount significance today. These include the principles of medical confidentiality and non-maleficence. As the seminal articulation of certain principles that continue to guide and inform medical practice,the ancient text is of more than historic and symbolic value. It is enshrined in the legal statutes of various jurisdictions,such that violations of the oath may carry criminal or other liability beyond the oath's symbolic nature.
Socialized medicine is a term used in the United States to describe and discuss systems of universal health care—medical and hospital care for all by means of government regulation of health care and subsidies derived from taxation. Because of historically negative associations with socialism in American culture,the term is usually used pejoratively in American political discourse. The term was first widely used in the United States by advocates of the American Medical Association in opposition to President Harry S. Truman's 1947 health care initiative. It was later used in opposition to Medicare. The Affordable Care Act has been described in terms of socialized medicine,but the act's objective is rather socialized insurance,not government ownership of hospitals and other facilities as is common in other nations.
Internal medicine,also known as general internal medicine in Commonwealth nations,is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention,diagnosis,and treatment of internal diseases in adults. Medical practitioners of internal medicine are referred to as internists,or physicians in Commonwealth nations. Internists possess specialized skills in managing patients with undifferentiated or multi-system disease processes. They provide care to both hospitalized (inpatient) and ambulatory (outpatient) patients and often contribute significantly to teaching and research. Internists are qualified physicians who have undergone postgraduate training in internal medicine,and should not be confused with "interns",a term commonly used for a medical doctor who has obtained a medical degree but does not yet have a license to practice medicine unsupervised.
Medical ethics is an applied branch of ethics which analyzes the practice of clinical medicine and related scientific research. Medical ethics is based on a set of values that professionals can refer to in the case of any confusion or conflict. These values include the respect for autonomy,non-maleficence,beneficence,and justice. Such tenets may allow doctors,care providers,and families to create a treatment plan and work towards the same common goal. These four values are not ranked in order of importance or relevance and they all encompass values pertaining to medical ethics. However,a conflict may arise leading to the need for hierarchy in an ethical system,such that some moral elements overrule others with the purpose of applying the best moral judgement to a difficult medical situation. Medical ethics is particularly relevant in decisions regarding involuntary treatment and involuntary commitment.
The white coat ceremony (WCC) is a ritual in some schools of medicine and other health-related fields that marks the student's transition from the study of preclinical to clinical health sciences. At some schools,where students begin meeting patients early in their education,the white coat ceremony is held before the first year begins. It is an example of a matriculation. The ritual is a recent invention,first being popularized in the 1990s.
A white coat,also known as a laboratory coat or lab coat,is a knee-length overcoat or smock worn by professionals in the medical field or by those involved in laboratory work. The coat protects their street clothes and also serves as a simple uniform. The garment is made from white or light-colored cotton,linen,or cotton polyester blend,allowing it to be washed at high temperature and making it easy to see if it is clean.
Ancient Greek medicine was a compilation of theories and practices that were constantly expanding through new ideologies and trials. The Greek term for medicine was iatrikē. Many components were considered in ancient Greek medicine,intertwining the spiritual with the physical. Specifically,the ancient Greeks believed health was affected by the humors,geographic location,social class,diet,trauma,beliefs,and mindset. Early on the ancient Greeks believed that illnesses were "divine punishments" and that healing was a "gift from the Gods". As trials continued wherein theories were tested against symptoms and results,the pure spiritual beliefs regarding "punishments" and "gifts" were replaced with a foundation based in the physical,i.e.,cause and effect.
Health law is a field of law that encompasses federal,state,and local law,rules,regulations and other jurisprudence among providers,payers and vendors to the health care industry and its patients,and delivery of health care services,with an emphasis on operations,regulatory and transactional issues.
A medical dictionary is a lexicon for words used in medicine. The four major medical dictionaries in the United States are Mosby's Dictionary of Medicine,Nursing &Health Professions,Stedman's,Taber's,and Dorland's. Other significant medical dictionaries are distributed by Elsevier. Dictionaries often have multiple versions,with content adapted for different user groups. For example Stedman's Concise Medical Dictionary and Dorland's are for general use and allied health care,while the full text editions are reference works used by medical students,doctors,and health professionals. Medical dictionaries are commonly available in print,online,or as downloadable software packages for personal computers and smartphones.
Ezekiel Jonathan "Zeke" Emanuel is an American oncologist,bioethicist and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. He is the current Vice Provost for Global Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania and chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy. Previously,Emanuel served as the Diane and Robert Levy University Professor at Penn. He holds a joint appointment at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Wharton School and was formerly an associate professor at the Harvard Medical School until 1998 when he joined the National Institutes of Health.
Narrative medicine is the discipline of applying the skills used in analyzing literature to interviewing patients. The premise of narrative medicine is that how a patient speaks about his or her illness or complaint is analogous to how literature offers a plot with characters and is filled with metaphors,and that becoming conversant with the elements of literature facilitates understanding the stories that patients bring. Narrative Medicine is a diagnostic and comprehensive approach that utilizes patients' narratives in clinical practice,research,and education to promote healing. Beyond attempts to reach accurate diagnoses,it aims to address the relational and psychological dimensions that occur in tandem with physical illness. Narrative medicine aims not only to validate the experience of the patient,it also encourages creativity and self-reflection in the physician.
"Death panel" is a political term that originated during the 2009 debate about federal health care legislation to cover the uninsured in the United States. Sarah Palin,former governor of Alaska and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate,coined the term when she charged that proposed legislation would create a "death panel" of bureaucrats who would carry out triage,i.e. decide whether Americans—such as her elderly parents,or children with Down syndrome—were "worthy of medical care". Palin's claim has been referred to as the "death panel myth",as nothing in any proposed legislation would have led to individuals being judged to see if they were worthy of health care.
Robert Klitzman is an American psychiatrist and bioethicist.
Choosing Wisely is a United States-based health educational campaign,led by the ABIM Foundation,about unnecessary health care.
Health policy and management is the field relating to leadership,management,and administration of public health systems,health care systems,hospitals,and hospital networks. Health care administrators are considered health care professionals.
M. R. Rajagopal is an Indian palliative care physician (anesthesiologist) and professor referred to as the 'father of palliative care in India' in honour of his significant contribution to the palliative care scene in India.
Eric Jonathan Cassell was an American physician and bioethicist.
William Francis May was an American ethicist,academic,theologian,and ordained Presbyterian minister. His work focused primarily on questions of medical and bioethics,professional ethics in general,and public responsibility and policy.