In this situation, Alex, a third year medical student, is bothered by the remarks that Dr. Tate, his attending, makes about his patients. He feels that the remarks are “distasteful” and “inappropriate”. As a result, he speaks to Meg, another student, about Dr. Tate’s remarks and she states to him that he shouldn’t be revealing what is happening at rounds because he’s also violating confidentiality by doing so. Should Alex report Dr. Tate? Is it ethical for Alex to comment about the remarks that Dr. Tate makes? This situation brings up core ethical issues that in the medical field that involve patient privacy and confidentiality. Situations like these can be common in a medical training setting. In Perri Klass’ “Invasions”, the author reveals
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A key component of this lies in the commitment to privacy, which is explained in ABIM Physician’s Charter, “earning the trust and confidence of patients requires the appropriate confidentiality safeguards be applied to disclosure of patient information.” The reasoning behind this is that without a well-established relationship, patients may be less willing to share details or listen to a physician’s advice. The PIF Subdomain 5c also serves to highlight the importance of establishing effective relationships between physicians and patients in medicine. I witnessed the results of a strong doctor-patient relationship last summer, when I was shadowing a Pediatrician. When I accompanied her to visit different patients, I noticed that the Pediatrician’s returning patients whom she had a firm relationship of trust with where more open in divulging information about their current problems, while her new patients seemed to be less open, making it harder for her to grasp the roots of the diagnosis. Dr. Skylar’s article explains in “Beginning the Journey” that “the clinician agrees to behave in a competent and responsible manner, putting the patient’s welfare above all considerations and trying to imagine being in the patient’s shoes.” Similarly, the TIME Competency 1.5 highlights the importance of a physician’s commitment to patients through ethical practice. Based on …show more content…
Tate’s comments, Meg’s response is appropriate, because he doesn’t have the right to share Dr. Tate’s comments to other medical students, like Meg. The reason for this is that by doing so, first he reduces the respect that the medical student, Meg, in this case, has for Dr. Tate, violating unspoken intraprofessional confidentiality. Confidentiality doesn’t always have to written explicitly. In most professional workplaces, it isn’t ethical to gossip about coworkers. The ABIM Physician’s charter also states that physicians should demonstrate a “commitment to professional responsibilities,” in the sense that they should be respectful of other professionals. Secondly, in this scenario Alex’s comments to Meg cause two violations, the re-violation of patient’s privacy because he repeats a statement that may have identifiable, private details pertinent to a patient and the violation of Dr. Tate’s confidentiality. In essence, just because, Dr. Tate isn’t a patient doesn’t mean everything that he says should be repeated to
A key component of this lies in the commitment to privacy, which is explained in ABIM Physician’s Charter, “earning the trust and confidence of patients requires the appropriate confidentiality safeguards be applied to disclosure of patient information.” The reasoning behind this is that without a well-established relationship, patients may be less willing to share details or listen to a physician’s advice. The PIF Subdomain 5c also serves to highlight the importance of establishing effective relationships between physicians and patients in medicine. I witnessed the results of a strong doctor-patient relationship last summer, when I was shadowing a Pediatrician. When I accompanied her to visit different patients, I noticed that the Pediatrician’s returning patients whom she had a firm relationship of trust with where more open in divulging information about their current problems, while her new patients seemed to be less open, making it harder for her to grasp the roots of the diagnosis. Dr. Skylar’s article explains in “Beginning the Journey” that “the clinician agrees to behave in a competent and responsible manner, putting the patient’s welfare above all considerations and trying to imagine being in the patient’s shoes.” Similarly, the TIME Competency 1.5 highlights the importance of a physician’s commitment to patients through ethical practice. Based on …show more content…
Tate’s comments, Meg’s response is appropriate, because he doesn’t have the right to share Dr. Tate’s comments to other medical students, like Meg. The reason for this is that by doing so, first he reduces the respect that the medical student, Meg, in this case, has for Dr. Tate, violating unspoken intraprofessional confidentiality. Confidentiality doesn’t always have to written explicitly. In most professional workplaces, it isn’t ethical to gossip about coworkers. The ABIM Physician’s charter also states that physicians should demonstrate a “commitment to professional responsibilities,” in the sense that they should be respectful of other professionals. Secondly, in this scenario Alex’s comments to Meg cause two violations, the re-violation of patient’s privacy because he repeats a statement that may have identifiable, private details pertinent to a patient and the violation of Dr. Tate’s confidentiality. In essence, just because, Dr. Tate isn’t a patient doesn’t mean everything that he says should be repeated to