Virtual Mentor. May 2012

This month in Virtual Mentor

When It’s Not Your Patient

Physicians accept exacting responsibility for their patients’ health—they profess to be clinically competent and compassionate, to respect the patient’s autonomy and protect confidentiality; in general, to put the patient’s interests above their own. These professed duties make it critical to distinguish who is a patient from who is not. This month’s Virtual Mentor authors examine the circumstances under which a physician enters into a patient-physician relationship with someone and how the practice of medicine in the twenty-first century has changed that relationship.

The Patient-Physician Relationship: Classic Questions and New Directions Alex Folkl, MSc

From day one, students are taught that solid relationships with patients are the foundation of successful medical practice.

Requests for Care from Family Members Erik K. Fromme, MD, MCR When family members request treatment, physicians should attempt to see that they get good care, preserve good relationships with them, and put neither themselves nor their relatives at risk.

Responsibility for Patients after the Handoff Robert Macauley, MD What professional responsibility does a physician have for a patient after handing the case off to those in the subsequent shift? Should he or she comment on the next team’s approach to care?

When Is a Patient-Physician Relationship Established? Valarie Blake, JD, MA The legal definition of a patient and the corresponding duties of the physician have been debated in state courts for over a century, and many aspects of the question are still unresolved.

Upcoming Issues

June Psychiatry in a Brave New World
July The Ethics of Shared Decision Making
August Personalized Medicine
September Confidentiality

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