Otolaryngologists and the Doctor-Patient Relationship during a Pandemic

Norman D Hogikyan; Andrew G Shuman

doi:10.1177/0194599820922990

Otolaryngologists and the Doctor-Patient Relationship during a Pandemic

Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2020 Jul;163(1):63-64. doi: 10.1177/0194599820922990. Epub 2020 Apr 28.

Authors

Norman D Hogikyan^{1

2}, Andrew G Shuman^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
² Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.

PMID: 32340553
DOI: 10.1177/0194599820922990

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced otolaryngologists and their patients to confront issues that they have rarely if ever previously faced. Prominent among these is the need to put the collective good ahead of the interests of individual patients with otolaryngologic disorders. We argue that the individual doctor-patient relationship remains paramount even at a time when public health principles mandate systems-level thinking.

Keywords: COVID-19; doctor-patient relationship; moral distress; trust.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Betacoronavirus*
COVID-19
Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology*
Humans
Otolaryngologists / psychology*
Pandemics*
Physician-Patient Relations / ethics*
Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology*
SARS-CoV-2