Person Centered Medicine as an Ethical Imperative

Abstract

Ethical Codes have been the foundation of medical practice since before Hippocrates. The principles underlying them have focused on the respect for and duty of care to each person as an individual. This person-centeredness is the foundation of the patient physician relationship, which is itself at the heart of medical practice and healthcare. The knowledge, skills and experience needed by a physician should include as much what is gained from the teaching of philosophy, psychology and sociology in their medical training as that from biomedical sciences. This will ensure that with the ever-changing and challenging scientific milieu, the latest advances will be applied sensitively in the best interests of the individual person.