Doctor and patient : hints to both / by Robert Gersuny.

  • Gersuny, Robert, 1844-1924.
Date:
1898
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Doctor and patient : hints to both / by Robert Gersuny. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    18/88 (page 14)
    relation between himself and his doctor to be, as a matter of course, the same as that which exists between any other employer and employed, whilst the doctor, under stress of the struggle for existence may lose his self-respect and accept the situation. It goes without saying that the patient will repose some trust in his doctor so long as the progress of his malady is favourable, or corres- ponds with his own preconceived ideas, or with those of his friends. Should, however, any dis- quieting circumstance arise, or any of his friends express doubts, the patient may begin to lose his faith. At first this mistrust unsettles only the patient, but the doctor soon recognizes its exis- tence. It is easy to understand with what feelings he then carries on his treatment. Sometimes a consultation with an eminent and tactful colleague helps him out of this difficulty, but only too frequently the relations remain per- manently strained. The doctor cannot help the thought, They expect very little from me, and whatever I may do, has no longer any value in their eyes. Consequently, he either becomes to a certain extent indifferent, and this indifference reacts upon the patient, or else he is prevented from adopting any new course of treatment, since