Exploring practices of Dermatologists in Ethical Dilemmas in Pakistan: A narrative analysis

Background and Objective: Specialists in dermatology come across ethical issues in their practice. The topic is subjective so dialogue and reflection is required. The main objective of this study was to explore how dermatologists deal with ethical dilemmas in their clinical practice.

Methods: This was a qualitative narrative analysis. It was conducted by involving dermatologists working in tertiary care hospitals across Pakistan from January to June 2017. Open ended semi structured in-depth interviews of twelve dermatologists were recorded and transcribed manually through transcribers verbatim. Thematic interactional analysis was done by NVivo 11.

Results: Ethical dilemmas were narrated. Thematic analysis showed that compromises in standard medical and ethical practices were made on academics and training. Ethics were left to individual choice. Consultation of patients suffered due to quality of patient physician relationships and breeched patient’s confidentiality. In cosmetic dermatology unrestrained role of media, injudicious procedures and improper counseling created difficulties. Pharmaceuticals relation revolved around conflict of interest. In sexually transmitted diseases disclosure were difficult due to sociocultural limitations. In teledermatology practices patient’s confidentiality and consent were compromised while consultation remained challenging for dermatologists being visual only.

Conclusion: Dilemmas appearing in everyday life needs peer discussion, reflections and protocols that should be role modeled.