Vasyl Yakovych Danylevskyi's lecture on a doctor at work, his worldview, responsibility and professional freedom (1921): Annotated translation

Abstract

A physician must possess certain qualities of intellect and character, certain natural qualities, firm principles and bitter life experience in order to choose the right paths of work and behavior. In an era of social and political upheavals, the number of weak-willed people with antisocial behavior increases. A physician as a practicing psychologist often has to act both in public life and in his daily work with a patient. No less important is the physician's work in the field of hygiene and prevention. An enlightened mind is the basis of social happiness. To restore the dis-turbed balance of spirit, there is a need for intellectual or artistic pleasure. For a practicing physi-cian, it is necessary to form a general scientific worldview in order not to scatter and fragment knowledge. The deontological attitude of a physician includes many complex and delicate issues, in addition to the physical, moral and mental side. The most difficult problems that a physician faces are the patient's attitude to death, issues of eugenics, abortion, euthanasia. A physician has to bear responsibility not only for his actions, but also for his words. But only doctors can judge a doctor not only from a professional point of view, but also from a moral and social point of view. For the future of medical activity, the solution to the question is of great importance: will it remain a free profession or will it turn entirely into a mandatory service occupation. The progress of medicine cannot be separated from the general course of cultural development of society. A doctor stands above all political, social, economic trends, for he deals with a person without distinction of tribes, dialects, conditions. We are so accustomed to the everyday actions of a doctor that we stop noticing and appreciating his outstanding merits, selfless help to the wounded and sick. Go boldly on the path of serving truth, justice and goodness, fulfill the covenants of humanist doctors and in the consciousness of the rightness of your cause you will draw strength for your difficult and responsible work.