1.5 MEP: Wellness & Self-Care As a Moral Obligation

Vocabulary flashcards covering core ethical concepts, definitions, self-care domains, and responsibility frameworks from MED110 Module 1.

Self-Care (WHO Definition)

The ability of individuals, families, and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a healthcare provider.

Self-Neglect

A state beginning with fatigue, distress, or impaired judgment that leads to reduced attention, diminished empathy, higher error rates, and potential harm to patients, colleagues, and oneself.

Beneficence

An ethical principle requiring physicians to act for the benefit of patients, which is compromised when chronic exhaustion and emotional stress diminish care quality.

Non-Maleficence

The ethical duty to do no harm, which is directly breached when a physician practices while severely impaired, exposing patients to preventable risk and harm.

Professional Competence

The standard of practice that requires maintaining physical, cognitive, and emotional capacity to practice safely alongside knowledge and technical skills.

Fidelity / Professional Responsibility

The ethical obligation to maintain personal health and wellness in order to honor the trust patients place in healthcare providers.

Respect for Persons / Oneself

An ethical principle recognizing that physicians are human beings whose personal needs, limitations, and dignity deserve recognition and care.

Modern Hippocratic Oath (2017 Amendment)

A declaration added by the World Medical Association pledging: "I will attend to my own health, well-being & abilities in order to provide care of the highest standard."

Physical Self-Care

A domain of self-care encompassing adequate sleep, nutrition, physical activity, receiving medical care, taking breaks, and avoiding harmful substances.

Psychological / Emotional Self-Care

A domain of self-care focused on recognizing stress, processing emotions, engaging in reflective practice, talking with trusted individuals, and seeking professional help when needed.

Relational / Social Self-Care

A domain of self-care centered on maintaining family and friend connections, building supportive peer networks, asking for help, and practicing teamwork rather than "heroic individualism".

Professional Self-Care

A domain of self-care involving knowing personal limits, seeking supervision, setting professional boundaries, reporting errors, and recognizing fatigue's impact on performance.

Heroic Individualism

A mindset where a healthcare provider fears vulnerability, equates asking for help with weakness or incapacity, and insists on working through exhaustion alone without burdening others.

The "Self-Sacrificing Doctor" Ideal

A traditional medical culture paradigm that glorifies overwork and sleep deprivation, normalizes suffering, and treats rest as something to be earned rather than a biological necessity.

SELF-CARE Framework

An 8-step decision-making guide (Stop & recognize, Evaluate capacity, Look at consequences, Find support, Communicate responsibly, Act, Reflect, Establish a preventive plan) used when self-care conflicts with responsibility.

Level 1 Responsibility (Individual)

The personal duty of a physician or student to recognize personal limits, maintain basic health, develop healthy coping strategies, and seek help early.

Level 2 Responsibility (Relational)

The collective duty of peers to check on classmates, encourage help-seeking, distribute workloads fairly, reject overwork glorification, and foster psychologically safe peer groups.

Level 3 Responsibility (Institutional)

The systemic duty of medical institutions and faculty to provide reasonable workloads, adequate supervision, confidential support systems, and penalty-free reporting systems.