TY - JOUR

T1 - Junior doctors and moral exploitation

AU - Parker, Joshua

N1 - © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

PY - 2019/9/30

Y1 - 2019/9/30

N2 - In this paper I argue that junior doctors are morally exploited. Moral exploitation occurs where an individual's vulnerability is used to compel them to take on additional moral burdens. These might include additional moral responsibility, making weighty moral decisions and shouldering the consequent emotions. Key to the concept of exploitation is vulnerability and here I build on Rosalind McDougall's work on the key roles of junior doctors to show how these leave them open to moral exploitation by restricting their reasonable options. I argue that there are a number of ways junior doctors are morally exploited. First, their seniors can leverage their position to force a junior to take on some discreet decision. More common is the second type of moral exploitation where rota gaps and staffing issues means junior doctors take on more than their fair share of the moral burdens of practice. Third, I discuss structural moral exploitation where the system offloads moral burdens onto healthcare professionals. Not every instance of exploitation is wrongful and so I conclude by exploring the ways that moral exploitation wrongs junior doctors.

AB - In this paper I argue that junior doctors are morally exploited. Moral exploitation occurs where an individual's vulnerability is used to compel them to take on additional moral burdens. These might include additional moral responsibility, making weighty moral decisions and shouldering the consequent emotions. Key to the concept of exploitation is vulnerability and here I build on Rosalind McDougall's work on the key roles of junior doctors to show how these leave them open to moral exploitation by restricting their reasonable options. I argue that there are a number of ways junior doctors are morally exploited. First, their seniors can leverage their position to force a junior to take on some discreet decision. More common is the second type of moral exploitation where rota gaps and staffing issues means junior doctors take on more than their fair share of the moral burdens of practice. Third, I discuss structural moral exploitation where the system offloads moral burdens onto healthcare professionals. Not every instance of exploitation is wrongful and so I conclude by exploring the ways that moral exploitation wrongs junior doctors.

KW - Clinical Decision-Making

KW - Ethics, Medical

KW - Humans

KW - Medical Staff, Hospital/ethics

KW - Morals

KW - Personnel Staffing and Scheduling

KW - Physician's Role/psychology

U2 - 10.1136/medethics-2018-105311

DO - 10.1136/medethics-2018-105311

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 31311854

VL - 45

SP - 571

EP - 574

JO - Journal of Medical Ethics

JF - Journal of Medical Ethics

SN - 0306-6800

IS - 9

ER -