Need for Considering Rights of Physicians in Medical Ethics Discourse

Over the past years in the literature of medical ethics about the doctor-patient relationship, patient's rights have been greatly considered, but the other side of this relationship is not concerned, and the physician’s obligations have been highlighted. The two meanings are understood from the concept of   physicians’ rights; their rights in conflict with the patient rights’ and the right to self improvement. We want to review the causes of this neglect and its complications. The reasons for not paying attention to the physician’s rights include: traditional beliefs about the power imbalance in doctor-patient relationship, lack of emphasis in the four principles of medical ethics, lack of supportive structures, customer-orientation in medicine, and hyper medical professionalism. Continuing this neglect creates complications that include: physicians’ work-life imbalance, symbolic violence in their society, burnout of physicians, forgetting the principle of gratitude and ultimately, the lack of respect for patients' rights. Consequently, the discourse of medical ethics fails to achieve its primary goals.