On not being paternalistic

On not being paternalistic

Tim Senior works in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health in Australia and is a Churchill Fellow into Deep End General Practice   I don’t remember ever being introduced to the idea of paternalism in medicine, so I know it must have been early in my medical student days, and I’ve always understood it as something to be avoided. The best definitions of paternalism recognise the power a doctor holds over the patient, and the use of that powe…