|
Med Students Vulnerable to Sex With Patients,
Problem Increases with Age
Oct. 5, 2004 - Four out of 10 medical students feel
they can justify having a sexual relationship with a patient, suggests a
small study in the Journal of Medical Ethics, which also says studies
show sexual misconduct increases with age rising 44% with every
decade.
The students views seem to change little as they
move through their training, shows the study.
The researchers monitored the responses of 62
medical students to a validated questionnaire on four separate occasions
during the course of their training. The questionnaire was designed to
highlight different ethical issues in health care.
One of these scenario used in the study revolves
around a general practitioner taking up a post on a small, remote
Scottish island. S/he is invited to dinner by a patient coming to the
end of a period of lengthy treatment. The patient is a member of a local
interest group to which the doctor also belongs.
The students were asked to say whether they would
accept or decline the invitation, and to give their reasons why. They
were assessed before and after year 1, after year 3, and after year 5 at
the end of their training, which included ethics.
Sixty per cent of the students said they would
refuse the invitation, mostly on the grounds that it was unethical or
would compromise the doctor-patient relationship. Other reasons included
abuse of power and a feeling that such behaviour would be
unprofessional.
But four out of 10 students said they would accept
the invitation. The principal reasons given were the difficulties of
meeting a future mate in such a setting, the belief that professional
and private lives can be kept separate, and the feeling that this would
be acceptable if the patient changed practice. These views remained
fairly constant over time.
The authors cite international studies showing that
sexual relationships between doctors and their patients, particularly in
general practice, gynaecology, and psychiatry, are relatively common.
"Particularly vulnerable are socially isolated,
middle aged men experiencing a mid life crisis, who are eminent in their
field," say the authors, pointing out that the risk of sexual misconduct
increases with age, rising 44% with every decade. Marital discord, loss
of important relationships, and a professional crisis in the offenders
lives often are trigger factors.
US research suggests that one in 10 family doctors
surveyed had had sexual contact with at least one patient, while an
Australian study found that almost a third of family doctors questioned
knew of a colleague who had had sex with a patient.
They conclude that far too little attention is paid
to the issue of sexual or improper relationships in medical training,
and that these issues need to be made more explicit.
Click here to view the paper in full:
http://press.psprings.co.uk/jme/october/480_me6304.pdf
Copyright: SeniorJournal.com |
