For Future Doctors: The Changing World of Medicine ……. Part 3[html]It has been a while since I last updated this blog. In my last article, I promised that I will be writing a series of article in relation to the changing world of medicine but unfortunately I met with a small accident in September while going to work. While I was OK and only hit […]
It has been a while since I last updated this blog. In my last article, I promised that I will be writing a series of article in relation to the changing world of medicine but unfortunately I met with a small accident in September while going to work. While I was OK and only hit a divider on the highway, my car was damaged and currently still in workshop. It is really frustrating when you don’t have your own car to travel around. This entire fiasco kept me busy for the last 3 months with Deepavali early this month and some travelling to do.
Medicine is or “was” a noble profession. It started as a science to help humans, to discover diseases and ways to treat them. Early doctors were trained purely by apprenticeship with no formal training or degrees. They did their own research at the back yard and came up with new techniques, findings and even treatments. In the 19th century, our ancestors believed that doctors need some form of self regulation and proper training modules. Thus, registration and regulation of doctors started. General Medical Council began in 1858.
Doctors are the only people on the planet given the rights to collect and record clinical history and confidential informations of a person. It is the only profession which can take detail information about a person which include certain intimate or sensitive details and social circumstances. You need to know every detail about a patient, from travelling history, problems at home, social history, sexual history etc etc. Only then we can formulate a diagnosis and provide treatment plans. The patient trust us to keep these informations as tight as possible and not to release the information to a 3rd party or even to his/her relatives which may even include his/her partner without the patient’s consent. This is where medical records safe keeping and confidentiality comes into the picture. Every medical council in the world has guidelines on these issues. Every doctor should read and understand these guidelines as not to breach ethical and professional bounderies.
Doctor-patient relationship is a unique relationship. We should keep professional boundaries at all times. This is the main reason why we should not be treating our own family members and close friends. Emotion would not allow us to provide the best standard of care to our loved ones. We will be in denial and would not give the best advise. On the other end, patients can become a vulnerable victim to a doctor. Only a doctor knows sensitive information of a patient and thus can easily be blackmailed by a doctor. This is one of the reason why professional boundaries are important to be maintained. This is also the reason why we must be regulated!
The advent of social media has created a totally new set of problems. Many doctors do not realise that social media can blur their professional boundaries. Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and many other messaging platforms have created new problems in the medical profession. Let’s look at WhatsApp. Doctors nowadays easily give their phone numbers to their patients, send confidential informations such as blood results etc via WhatsApp to the patient and even discuss their problems via WhatsApp. The doctor believes that he is tying to help the patient but forgets the fact that it can be construed as blurring professional boundaries! Imagine if you message the patient at 11pm at night and the patient is a married lady with some social issues, like problem with her husband etc. Imagine if the patient starts to communicate with you via WhatsApp for her personal matters, presumably seeking advise in relation to her relationship issues etc. This can definitely lead to something more serious like the case over HERE and
