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Friday, August 3, 2012

When I Kissed the Teacher

Student-Doctor Relationships Can Be Problematic When It Comes to a Teaching Environment

By Guy Rughani
From Student BMJ
Medscape Today News
Originally posted on July 17, 2012

Here is one excerpt:

From the beginning of medical school we are told that doctors should never date their patients. Accusations of preying on the vulnerable, abusing a position of trust, and eroding professional integrity are all persuasive reasons against such relationships. Indeed, in the United Kingdom, the General Medical Council has extensive guidance on the topic, requiring doctors to “maintain a professional boundary between themselves and their patients.” Although some guidance exists for staff about relationships in the workplace (see box), why do we never hear warnings against student-doctor/teacher relationships?

Jonathan Coe is the director of the Clinic for Boundaries Studies, an organisation which supports the victims of professional boundary violations and educates professionals in improving their approaches to prevention. “When we [patients] go to a doctor, we bring with us a level of vulnerability to the relationship,” says Mr Coe. “Implicitly, we are seeking assistance with issues whose solution is outside our knowledge and ability to respond effectively. There is a clear power differential and it is this that means that senior practitioners need to be careful before entering into any kind of personal involvement.”

Mr Coe argues that the guiding ethical principles that underpin the doctor-patient relationship are also relevant in the context of doctor-student matches. “There is a general ethical responsibility to avoid harm [non-maleficence/beneficence] and to respect autonomy,” he says, “both of which are at risk if an intimate relationship [among doctors and students] is started.”

The entire story is here.