Vital to rebuild patient-doctor trust

A medical practitioner with a stethoscope.
PHOTO: ST FILE

It is heartening that the National University of Singapore's Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine is now looking beyond sterling academic achievements in assessing students for its highly competitive medical programme (NUS medical school sees greater diversity in intake, July 15).

Professor Tan Chorh Chuan, a former NUS president, has very correctly pointed out that trust in the patient-doctor relationship is diminishing.

This is not surprising as the medical profession has been rocked recently by several professional and sexual misconduct cases.

These include blatant overcharging by a renowned surgeon, a general practitioner convicted of sexually assaulting his patient and an aesthetic doctor being struck off the medical register for molesting a male patient. Public confidence in the profession has been shaken.

The Hippocratic Oath taken by physicians for centuries has provided a moral compass for those in the healing profession. Unfortunately, it seems like the oath has less influence in today's society.

One of the key tenets of the Hippocratic Oath is to do no harm. While the Singapore Medical Council Physician's Pledge provides the moral boundaries of what is right and wrong, the Hippocratic Oath is the fundamental "sanction of the conscience".

I strongly believe that the Hippocratic Oath still has its relevance in today's society and it is definitely worth upholding the key principles for today's medical profession.

Dave Phua Peng Hwee

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 23, 2019, with the headline Vital to rebuild patient-doctor trust. Subscribe