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Did you know that you have a right to ask for a chaperone when you need an intimate examination by a doctor? There are times when patients are abused by the clinician even without their realisation. For example, a mother who had taken her daughter to a doctor for examination was asked to wait outside. The doctor examined the girl in the absence of a nurse and the mother realised it only later that this is not right.
Part of curriculum
These and many other issues revolving around “unhealthy” doctor-patient relationships will soon be part of the curriculum for undergraduate medical students.
Recognising the need for specific guidelines for doctors on sexual boundaries, the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) has submitted a set of draft guidelines to the Medical Council of India (MCI), for inclusion in the curriculum for UG medical courses.
Open to suggestions
The draft guidelines, which will be released in a week on the IPS website, will be open for suggestions and objections by psychiatrists and the public for a month. “The final guidelines will be ready by October 2 and doctors of other specialities can adopt them or create their own guidelines thereafter,” said IPS president G. Prasad Rao.
Addressing presspersons on Friday, Dr. Prasad, along with psychiatrists Ajit Bhide (consultant psychiatrist, St. Martha’s Hospital) and Sunita Simon Kurpad (professor of psychiatry and head of Medical Ethics, St. John’s Medical College) — who are members of the IPS-commissioned Task Force on Boundary Violations, said there was a need for such guidelines, especially because the 2,000-year-old Hippocratic Oath does specify that doctors must not enter into unhealthy relationships with patients, particularly in the sexual context.
“Doctors are warned about ‘immoral conduct’ in the MCI’s Code of Ethics. However, the need for specific guidelines for doctors to reflect the issues involved, as patients are a particularly vulnerable group, was recognised by the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS),” he said.
The task force along with the Bangalore Declaration Group (a group of doctors) worked on framing the guidelines for the last seven years.
Guidelines for doctors on ‘sexual boundaries’ to be released soon - NATIONAL - The Hindu
Part of curriculum
These and many other issues revolving around “unhealthy” doctor-patient relationships will soon be part of the curriculum for undergraduate medical students.
Recognising the need for specific guidelines for doctors on sexual boundaries, the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS) has submitted a set of draft guidelines to the Medical Council of India (MCI), for inclusion in the curriculum for UG medical courses.
Open to suggestions
The draft guidelines, which will be released in a week on the IPS website, will be open for suggestions and objections by psychiatrists and the public for a month. “The final guidelines will be ready by October 2 and doctors of other specialities can adopt them or create their own guidelines thereafter,” said IPS president G. Prasad Rao.
Addressing presspersons on Friday, Dr. Prasad, along with psychiatrists Ajit Bhide (consultant psychiatrist, St. Martha’s Hospital) and Sunita Simon Kurpad (professor of psychiatry and head of Medical Ethics, St. John’s Medical College) — who are members of the IPS-commissioned Task Force on Boundary Violations, said there was a need for such guidelines, especially because the 2,000-year-old Hippocratic Oath does specify that doctors must not enter into unhealthy relationships with patients, particularly in the sexual context.
“Doctors are warned about ‘immoral conduct’ in the MCI’s Code of Ethics. However, the need for specific guidelines for doctors to reflect the issues involved, as patients are a particularly vulnerable group, was recognised by the Indian Psychiatric Society (IPS),” he said.
The task force along with the Bangalore Declaration Group (a group of doctors) worked on framing the guidelines for the last seven years.
Guidelines for doctors on ‘sexual boundaries’ to be released soon - NATIONAL - The Hindu