The Trouble with Medicine: Preserving the Trust between Patients and Doctors

by Merrilyn Walton

'What a timely book ...Merrilyn Walton is making a significant contribution to the long-term health of my profession.' Prof. Peter Baume, AO, Head of School of Community Medicine, University of New South Wales 'No matter whether you are just beginning your medical career, one of its leaders or someone charged with developing and implementing policy, you will learn much from this book. Not only does it examine the difficulties confronting medical practice but it suggests what might be done to resolve them.' John Ellard, AM, Editor of Modern Medicine, former chair of RANZCP chairs Whatever happened to Dr Finlay ...? Is the idea of medical practice as a vocation laughable these days because doctors are too compromised by commerce and careerism? How can the community be sure doctors honour the trust their profession entails? Or are the public s expectations of medicine unrealistic, and conflicts of interest faced by doctors intractable? How can the interests of patients, private doctors and public health be properly balanced? This book takes up such crucial questions in a probing and provocative examination of the changing mores in medica

224 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1999