This document outlines the roles and responsibilities of physicians. It defines empathy as a physician's ability to understand a patient's emotional state and demonstrate that understanding to facilitate accurate diagnosis and caring treatment. The document recommends physicians actively listen to patients, make eye contact, and treat patients as they would family to be empathetic. Physicians have duties to patients like prioritizing health, maintaining privacy, and obligations to the sick. They must also respect other physicians and avoid unethical acts like advertising or violating human rights.

1. By
Dr. Naushi Mujeeb
Professor, Dept of Physiology

2. • Objectives:
• Enumerate and describe professional qualities and roles of a
physician.
• Demonstrate empathy in patient encounters.

3. • Definition-
• Empathy is ability of physician to
acknowledge the emotional state of
the patient accurately as well as to
demonstrate that understanding to
the patient.
• It is the ability to understand
patient’s feelings to facilitate a
more accurate diagnosis and more
caring treatment.

4. • How to be an empathetic approach to patient care-
• empathy should be incorporated by physicians in their everyday
practice. Kind words and a little emotional support from any physician
can have a measurable impact on patient outcome.
• These simple measures should be adopted –
1. Active listening to your patient-
2. Personal history-
3. Make eye contact-
4. Keep yourself in your patient’s shoes-
5. Treat your patients the way you are treating the family member.

5. • Duties and Responsibilities of the physician in general-
1. Character of Physician- uphold the dignity and honour of his
profession.
2. Maintaining good medical practice- render service to humanity with
full respect for the dignity of profession.
3. Maintenance of medical records-
4. Display of registration numbers-
5. Use of generic names of drugs-
6. Evasion of legal restrictions- the physician shall observe the laws,
acts, rules, regulations made by the central/state government to the
protection and promotion of public health.

6. • Duties of Physicians to their patients-
• Obligation to the sick- doctor should never forget the health and lives
of those entrusted to his care.
• Patience, delicacy and secrecy- patience and delicacy should
characterize the physician.
• Respect for privacy and confidentiality right of the patient.

7. • Responsibilities of physician to each other-
• Dependence of physician on each other- to render gratuitous
service to all physicians and their immediate family
dependents.
• Conduct in consultation- due respect towards the physician
in charge.
• Visiting another Physician case- avoid remarks upon the
diagnosis or the treatment that has been adopted.

8. • Unethical acts- A physician shall not aid or commit any of the
following acts-
• Advertising
• A medical practitioner is however permitted to make a formal
announcement in the press regarding-
• 1. starting practice.
• 2. on change of type of practice.
• 3. on temporary absence from the duty.
• 4. change of address.

9. • Violation of human rights.
• Euthanasia
• A medical practitioner shall not receive any gift, cash or monetary
grants from any pharmaceutical and allied healthcare industry.

10. • THANKYOU