The Sexually Seductive Patient: How Should Doctors React? Chapter 2

 On my other threads on patient modesty and why doctors are hated, there is much concern and worry about sexually seductive doctors. Such concerns are warranted even though I am sure most doctors will treat patients professionally and keep to the professional and legal boundaries of behavior. However, physicians have their own concerns. One of their concerns is the behavior that the patient will bring into the office. There are the angry, disruptive and frankly belligerant patients. Medical students are taught to expect such patients and to react by trying to understand what is motivating these patients to these behaviors since such understanding may provide a therapeutic approach rather than the physician simply reflecting anger back to the patient. One of the more subtle and difficult patient behaviors for physicians to deal with is the sexually seductive patient. Such a patient, often a female relating to a male physician enters with the expression of obvious greater attention and interest with respect to the physician ' s personality and appearance than true concern about her own symptoms. Her actions may be sexually provocative. The patient may expose her body to the physician during the interview or exam to an extent which is clinically unnecessary. Female physicians are not free of seductive male patients.Psychologists explain these patients ' behavior as expressions of transference--where psychologic unmet needs are attempted to be met by engaging physicians...
Source: Bioethics Discussion Blog - Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: blogs