Moral choice in the work of a doctor

Abstract

The subject of the study is the essence and mechanisms of moral choice in the professional activity of a doctor. The purpose consists in analyzing the nature and structure of the choice and its connection with the ethical views of medical professionals. The author uses an activity-based approach in the study of stages and models of moral choice in correlation with an axiological method applied for the analysis of specialists’ ethical values and attitudes. As a result of the undertaken research, the paper defines the conditions and factors of moral choice, its ethical fundamentals and the difficulties of its implementation. It outlines the methods of decision-making and subsequent control of its consequences, as well as the moral responsibility of medical workers. The author highlights the main constituents of moral choice (cognitive, value-notional, motivational, activity-based) and its general features. The method of identifying moral dilemmas in medicine is described and a general algorithm for the solution of ethical collisions is proposed. In conclusion, it is admitted that the mechanisms of moral choice are grounded by the doctor’s ethical principles and values, his conception of the professional duty and are regulated by general legal and administrative norms. In the context of structural transformations in the domestic healthcare and its undetermined prospects, the role of moral regulators is becoming dramatically