Real-Life Decision Making
Otolaryngologists require excellent decision-making skills. They treat some of the most delicate and complicated areas of the human anatomy -- areas that can directly impact three out of the five senses: hearing (ears), smell (nose) and taste (mouth).
The choices you make can have a great and far-reaching impact on a lot of lives. The law, after all, can hold you accountable if the consequences of your actions appear to be more harmful than beneficial.
As an otolaryngologist, you may also be faced with a situation where you know a patient stands little chance of survival, regardless of the treatment you recommend.
"In these special situations, there are hard choices to be made," says Dr. Jacques Leclerc. He is an otolaryngologist. "These decisions can be difficult to make," he says.
You are an otolaryngologist seeing an elderly female patient. She cannot swallow. She has trouble breathing because the tube that carries food from her mouth into her stomach has a small leak, he says.
You discover that some of the food is going into her lungs. If you do nothing, she will likely die of a lung infection. But you're not sure she could survive an operation. If you go ahead with surgery, she could die on your operating table.
The woman and her family want to know what you recommend.
What do you do?