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Responsibility, Confidentiality, and the Psychiatrically Ill Physician

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The Impaired Physician

Abstract

Physicians are notoriously difficult patients, regardless of the type of their illness. It is particularly difficult for afflicted physicians, their family, friends, patients, and fellow physicians, to contend with psychiatric illness. Because of the emotional impact of psychiatric illness, the usual conflict between confidentiality and responsibility is heightened in those who would be helpful.

These are the duties of a physician: First… to heal his mind and to give help to himself before giving it to anyone else.

Athenian physician. A.D. 21

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© 1983 plenum Publishing Corporation

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Doyle, B.B. (1983). Responsibility, Confidentiality, and the Psychiatrically Ill Physician. In: Scheiber, S.C., Doyle, B.B. (eds) The Impaired Physician. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4304-2_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4304-2_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-4306-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-4304-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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