Physician-Patient Boundaries: Professionalism Training Using Video Vignettes

Professional boundaries in the physician-patient relationship.

Business, gifts and boundaries in the physician patient relationship.

A senior community-based physician practicing in Rhode Island established a physician-patient relationship with a wealthy patient. Over the course of several years, the patient, who happened to be both his neighbor and insurance agent, lent $177,000 to this physician. These loans were documented as part of the medical record. As the patient’s health declined, the physician provided home care, a...

Professionalism in Residency Training

Professionalism is one of the most important competencies for physicians but is also the most difficult to teach, assess, and manage. To better understand professionalism in pathology, we surveyed practicing pathologists and pathology residents and fellows in training. We identified 12 key desirable attributes of professionalism. In addition, 8 case scenarios highlighting unprofessional behavio...

Using vignettes to understand variations in patient screening and recruitment

The INVESTIGATE-I study was designed to inform a future definitive randomised trial of invasive urodynamic testing compared to basic clinical assessment with noninvasive tests, prior to surgical treatment in women with stress urinary incontinence or stress predominant mixed urinary incontinence. In a pilot RCT, women from seven participating sites were screened, consented and randomised. Overal...

What does professionalism mean to the physician?

Professionalism, which is a core competency for physicians, can be described as a spectrum of behaviors and may have a significant impact on the problems in today's changing health care climate. In this article, we discuss the meaning of professionalism and its role in the Southern California Permanente Medical Group (SCPMG) and consider how it may be applied to integrated care delivery systems...