Faith vs Trust in Medical Science

Having too much faith in medical science can also be related to the type of trusting

relationship a patient may have with their provider. 1) Trust and overtreatment. A doctor

may prescribe antibiotics as a mechanism to help build trust when treating a new patient.

This could result in the patient taking unnecessary antibiotics that have no significant

impact on their health, but thus having faith/trust with their doctor. 2) Trust and

choosing less medicine especially with the invasive procedures. A US study found that

patients who trusted their doctors were more likely to listen to advice to have active

surveillance instead of surgery. However, this perception has led to patients believing

that invasive treatments are for profit (Fritz & Holton, 2019).

2019).

Throughout history there have been examples of why it’s fair to have faith in medical science.

However, a big part of faith is also the trusting relationship with providers and identifying the

unnecessary treatment and procedures that can result in expensive drugs or high fees. These

have negative repercussions, especially financially on patients and their families.

References

Fritz, Z., & Holton, R. (2019, January 1).Too much medicine: Not enough trust?Journal