Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:The Culture of Health Care
Unit:Ethics and Professionalism
Lecture:Ethics and professionalism
Slide content:Obligation and Aspiration Obligation = Minimum standard necessary to meet professional obligation Provide competent medical care to individual patients Make sure patients understand the risks and benefits of treatment Aspiration = Standard that one should strive to achieve but is not always attainable Providing equal worldwide access to health care Find cures for currently incurable conditions 14
Slide notes:Sometimes, ethical issues are divided into those that are professional obligations and those that are aspirational. An obligation is a standard that must be met, the minimum of care that must be provided. Some examples of ethical obligations are to provide competent health care to individual patients and to make sure patients understand the risks and benefits of treatment. In contrast, an aspirational goal is a standard that would be met in an ideal world but is not currently achievable in the real world. Some examples of aspirational goals are providing equal worldwide access to care and finding cures for diseases that are currently incurable. 14