As an aspiring physician, I am reading the American College of Physicians Ethics Manual, and it has this to say, under Boundaries and Privacy: Physicians must remain cognizant of the privacy settings for secure messaging and recording of patient–physician interactions as well as online networks and media and should maintain a professional demeanor in accounts that could be viewed by patients or the public. I find this somewhat problematic, as it seems to preclude the sort of informal conversation, trading of barbs, and joking around that occurs in a casual social setting like Facebook. This is not a question of violating confidentiality or making professionally questionable public statements (such as the claim that settled science is lies from the pit of hell, as one licensed physician has). To me, this is an insistence that physicians have the on-duty light always on. This strikes me as a breach of the physicians own justifiable boundary on where their work life stops. It prevents physicians from fully participating in modes of social being that are their right in a free society. In other words, you can have my Grumpy Cat memes when you pry them from my cold, dead fingers. Brian Colton, thoughts on the ethical complexion of this?
Posted on: Wed, 16 Apr 2014 01:12:12 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015