Medical etiquette: handbook of elementary deontology / Translated from the 2nd French edition by W.P. Grant, with a preface by Sir Dyce Duckworth.

  • Surbled, Georges, 1855-
Date:
1910
    assistance. If they will forward any obser- vations or criticism to me, they will help me to complete the work, and to make it more worthy of our profession. So many difficult and delicate questions are included in Deontology that I do not pretend to have entered into all the details and intricacies of the subject. Some tasks exceed the powers and baffle the minds of authors. I hope that my readers will at least see a proof of my zeal and goodwill in this attempt. I am extremely anxious to be of use to the rising generation; to encourage and raise the standing of extra-mural teach- ing; to preserve our honourable and ancient traditions; to safeguard for ever the con- science and honour of doctors, for the sake of the good name and fame of French Medicine.
    By Sir Dyce Duckworth, Bt., M.D., LL.D. The author of this Handbook has requested me to write a preface to the English transla- tion of it, and I have readily consented to his wish. I read the French edition when it appeared last year, and was much impressed by its general tone. I am not aware of any such work having been produced in this country, certainly in recent years, and I feel sure that such teaching is most necessary and important for young practitioners at the outset of their career. The subjects dis- cussed are nowhere systematically treated in our British Schools of Medicine, and are only occasionally referred to by teachers in their respective courses of lectures. The author adopts the term Deontology which sufficiently defines the scope of his
    lectures, relating as they do to conduct in regard to the maintenance of the honour and dignity of our Profession. It will be found that some parts of this treatise are dealt with as they pertain to the views and practices of our French confreres, and in several instances these will not apply to our British practice. The work is certainly remarkable as an exposition of the views of an experienced, right-minded, and Christian physician, and it must have required some courage to express them in these days when a non- Christian government is in power in France, and actively employing its influence to nullify the Christian faith throughout the realm of the Republic. As Englishmen, we are in full sympathy with Dr. Surbled's efforts, and his firm tenure of the Roman faith in no degree averts this sympathy, since our faith and his rest alike on the basis of the main features of our common Christianity. We all, happily, belong to the most catholic of professions.
    and there can never be anything narrow or petty in a ministry of healing to our fellow- creatures. We may note the absence in these lectures of any allusion to the work of trained Nurses who in this country now form part of our most important aid in the successful treat- ment of the sick. Unfortunately, such assistance is not at hand in France, and it is hardly possible to find and train such women as are so largely available in Britain. Our brethren in France lament this disablement very sadly, and their hospital service is grievously behind ours in this respect. Mat- ters have become worse in recent years since the Government expelled the religious Sisters from the Hospitals. The latter were certainly excellent and devoted so far as their imperfect training went, but the substi- tutes for these are now simply undesirable, if not positively harmful in the best interests of the patients. Respecting the chapter on Obstetric Morality and Gynaecology, I have felt
    myself little qualified to speak with any authority. I could not agree with some of the opinions set forth, and have therefore sought the aid of my colleague, Sir Francis Champneys, to state his impressions of them, and these will be found in a note at the end of the chapter referred to. These are so important for practice that it is well to have an authoritative statement of the opinions now held in this country in regard to obstetric operations. As a contribution to the whole subject of Medical Deontology, I feel justified in com- mending this handbook to the study of all my younger brethren, who will not fail to gather from it help and right guidance in many of the difficulties and allurements that may beset them in their practice in all parts of the world.