MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
Dear Colleagues
Carol Leet, MD
College President
photo: D.W. Dorken
Patients who have
been sexually abused
by their physicians
have had a sacred
trust violated
I
f a patient was sexually abused
by a physician, how supportive and open would the College appear to him or her? What
if the patient’s first language is not
English? Or what if he or she is not
even entirely sure that what transpired in the examining room was,
in fact, sexual abuse? Or perhaps,
more commonly, what if the patient
feels devastated by the experience
and worries that interactions with
the College will only prolong the
trauma?
These are just some of the questions that we have had to ask ourselves as we look for ways to better
support and protect patients against
physician sexual abuse.
Patients who have been sexually
abused by their physicians have had
a sacred trust violated. In order to
make our Sexual Abuse Initiative
relevant to the person who is most
vulnerable – the abused patient –
we have had to look at the College
through their eyes. As a result, we
have determined that we can, and in
fact we must, make things better.
When we set out on this initiative,
we made it clear that everything was
on the table for discussion. Sexual
abuse of patients is an issue that we
take very seriously and it is behaviour that won’t be tolerated.
At our most recent meeting,
Council proposed a number of
wide-ranging changes and recommendations aimed at better protecting and supporting Ontario patients
from physician sexual abuse.
We have determined that we need
a principled approach to this initiative. We are now consulting with
you on draft principles that will
articulate and ground the College’s
approach toward physician sexual
abuse of patients. The content is
informed by the College’s mandate,
the principles set out in the College’s current policy on Maintaining Appropriate Boundaries and
Issue 2, 2015 Dialogue
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