Back to Chapter 1 Patient-Physician Relationships
Opinion 1.1.1

Patient-Physician Relationships

Download PDF

The practice of medicine, and its embodiment in the clinical encounter between a patient and a physician, is fundamentally a moral activity that arises from the imperative to care for patients and to alleviate suffering. The relationship between a patient and a physician is based on trust, which gives rise to physicians’ ethical responsibility to place patients’ welfare above the physician’s own self-interest or obligations to others, to use sound medical judgment on patients’ behalf, and to advocate for their patients’ welfare.

A patient-physician relationship exists when a physician serves a patient’s medical needs. Generally, the relationship is entered into by mutual consent between physician and patient (or surrogate).

However, in certain circumstances a limited patient-physician relationship may be created without the patient’s (or surrogate’s) explicit agreement. Such circumstances include:

  1. When a physician provides emergency care or provides care at the request of the patient’s treating physician. In these circumstances, the patient’s (or surrogate’s) agreement to the relationship is implicit.
  2. When a physician provides medically appropriate care for a prisoner under court order, in keeping with ethics guidance on court-initiated treatment.
  3. When a physician examines a patient in the context of an independent medical examination, in keeping with ethics guidance. In such situations, a limited patient-physician relationship exists.
AMA Principles of Medical Ethics: I, II, IV, VIII
Read the Principles

Council Reports

Related Learning

Related Opinions

See All Opinions
Opinion 1.1.7

Physician Exercise of Conscience

Preserving opportunity for physicians to act (or to refrain from acting) in accordance with the dictates of conscience is important for preserving the integrity of the medical profession as well as the integrity of the individual physician; Physicians’ freedom to act according to conscience is not unlimited; They are expected to provide care in emergencies, honor patients’ informed decisions to refuse life-sustaining treatment, respect basic civil liberties and not discriminate against patients on the basis of arbitrary characteristics.
Opinion 1.2.6

Work-Related & Independent Medical Examinations

Industry-employed physicians or independent medical examiners establish limited patient-physician relationships. Their relationships with patients are confined to the isolated examination; they do not monitor patients’ health over time, treat them, or carry out many other duties fulfilled by physicians in the traditional fiduciary role.
Opinion 9.1.1

Romantic or Sexual Relationships with Patients

Romantic or sexual interactions between physicians and patients that occur concurrently with the patient-physician relationship are unethical. A physician must terminate the patient-physician relationship before initiating a dating, romantic, or sexual relationship with a patient. Sexual or romantic relationships with former patients are unethical if the physician uses or exploits trust, knowledge, emotions, or influence derived from the previous professional relationship, or if a romantic relationship would foreseeably harm the individual.
Opinion 9.1.2

Romantic or Sexual Relationships with Key Third Parties

Physicians should avoid sexual or romantic relations with any individual whose decisions directly affect the health and welfare of the patient. Physicians should refrain from sexual or romantic interactions with key third parties when the interaction would exploit trust, knowledge, influence, or emotions derived from a professional relationship with the third party or could compromise the patient’s care.
Opinion 9.7.2

Court-Initiated Medical Treatment in Criminal Cases

Physicians have civic duties, but medical ethics do not require a physician to carry out civic duties that contradict fundamental principles of medical ethics, such as the duty to avoid doing harm. In limited circumstances, physicians can ethically participate in court-initiated medical treatments.
Opinion 10.3

Peers as Patients

Physicians must recognize that providing medical care for a fellow professional can pose special challenges for objectivity, open exchange of information, privacy and confidentiality, and informed consent. Physicians have the same fundamental ethical obligations when treating peers as when treating any other patient.