The Doctor-Patient Relationship- How Did We Get here and Where Are We Going?

Gregory Eastwood, MD., Professor of Bioethics and Humanities, and Medicine, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY.

Patients and physicians have interacted according to cultural norms and ethical principles for thousands of years. The Hippocratic ideal "The health and life of my patient will be my first consideration," remains the central principle in the relationship between patients and their physicians. Yet, the practice of contemporary medicine is much different than it was even a generation ago. We will trace the development of the doctor-patient relationship and examine how it has been affected by landmark events, such as the Nuremburg Trial (1947) and the Quinlan (1976) and Cruzan (1990) cases, and other influences on the practice of medicine in recent years. Finally, we will peer into the future when computers and brains may merge and technology may change the very notion of what it means to be a patient or a physician.

Dr. Eastwood does not have financial relationships with commercial interests.

Location:	PBS Building, TU#3, 2nd Flr
Sponsor:	Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Contact:	Kristen King kingk@upstate.edu 464-1706
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