Professional Boundaries in the Physician-Patient Relationship

Abstract

is presenting an interactive educational workshop on understanding and adhering to boundaries in medical practice. Discussion topics include the principles of professionalism, distinguishing between boundary crossings and boundary violations, and identifying preventative measures to help avoid violations in the physician-patient relationship.

Celebrity Patients, VIPs, and Potentates

“…Policies are still evolving, but current thinking seems to be in the direction that considers accepting individual gifts (or services, or even participating in barter) to be ethically questionable. 88 One hinge of the issue is, Does the gift affect objectivity in the caregiver? The other is, Does the gift skew staff attention and service toward the giver at the expense of other patients?…”

Professional Integrity and the Role of Medical Students in Professional Self-Regulation

“…Although there are many forms of professional boundary crossings and violations [27,28], one clear unprofessional behavior is engaging in sexual contact with one's own patient. We are not aware of surveys that report on medical student's knowledge of others who have engaged in sexual contact with a current patient, although medical students may themselves hold problematic or worrisome attitudes [29].…”

Pediatrician-Family-Patient Relationships: Managing the Boundaries

“…Attention to the subject, in the form of complaints against practitioners and publications in professional journals, has been more prominent among psychiatrists and obstetricians/gynecologists. [14][15][16][17][18] Interpersonal entanglements raise at least 2 serious questions. First, can a patient or family member make clear and free choices to accept or reject affections, especially sexual, in the context of the unavoidably unequal physician-patientfamily relationship?…”