February 12, 2023February 17, 2023 Is it OK to flirt with your doctor? Is it OK to flirt with your doctor? A safe way to approach the doctor is to use “friendly flirting.” You can do this by creating an opportunity for yourself to talk with the doctor. Try calling and speak to him at work, either to ask him a question about the follow up treatment of your eye, or to thank him for the great care he provided you. Is it legal for a doctor to date a patient? A physician must terminate the patient-physician relationship before initiating a dating, romantic, or sexual relationship with a patient. Likewise, sexual or romantic relationships between a physician and a former patient may be unduly influenced by the previous physician-patient relationship. What is the opposite of Florence Nightingale syndrome? Opposite Florence Nightingale Syndrome Some references use the term for the opposite situation, in which a patient develops romantic or sexual feelings towards a caregiver. This is, in fact, a manifestation of what Sigmund Freud called transference. Is it unethical to have a romantic relationship with a doctor? Romantic or sexual interactions between physicians and patients that occur concurrently with the patient physician relationship are unethical. Can a doctor have a relationship with a patient? “I don’t personally think it’s ethical to have an intimate relationship with a current patient,” writes a family physician, “but someone I once treated, sure. Female physicians take a dimmer view of doctor-patient romantic relationships versus their male counterparts. What to do if a doctor is attracted to a patient? And if in the circumstance there is a mutual romantic attraction to a patient, the best thing to do is to transfer care so that you are no longer that patient’s doctor. It’s pretty simple. You just have to go about it ethically and professionally. It’s not unethical to date a former patient. Is it OK for a doctor to date a former patient? One of the answers on here says that doctors dating former patients is “Absolutely not ok.” I would object to that. Many of us work in smaller towns where we know a lot of the patients in our community outside of work (e.g., you go to church together, they’re the bartender at the nearby restaurant, etc.). Questions