A boundary problem?

[wormboge]

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Sometimes I meet people in my personal life who ask me for medical help or run personal problems by me and happen to also have clear symptoms of mental health issues. Since I am so interested in the psychological and medical fields, I find it very difficult to resist the temptation to comfort these people and to try to solve their problems with the limited knowledge I have from life experience and as a pre med. Just wondering if anyone sees a problem with this? Where would you draw the line or would you?

 

[Pooker_]

I would not give medical advice if you aren't actually trained and licensed to do so. If you think they have a problem then you could bring it up to them and recommend that they see someone to get it verified, but you shouldn't be the one advising them what to do.

 

[siliso]

As long as they know you’re not a doctor yet and you’re not representing yourself as one, there’s nothing wrong with giving the kind of advice anyone might give to a friend or family member (like, it sounds like you could have a problem, you should see a doctor about it). If they’re asking advice on the basis of your premed status I think it would be important that they understand you can’t provide medical advice or medical care.

 

[Goro]

Sometimes I meet people in my personal life who ask me for medical help or run personal problems by me and happen to also have clear symptoms of mental health issues. Since I am so interested in the psychological and medical fields, I find it very difficult to resist the temptation to comfort these people and to try to solve their problems with the limited knowledge I have from life experience and as a pre med. Just wondering if anyone sees a problem with this? Where would you draw the line or would you?

"I'm not a clinician; go see one"

 

[libertyyne]

Never offer clinical advice based on your "experience" as a premed.
The best advice you can offer would be to instruct them to go see a physician.

 

[PhilzCoffeeAddict]

@Goro said it best. A lot of people in my family (un-educated, elderly, immigrants) come running asking about drugs they are taking and seeking medical advice. I always help them with questions about what kind of medicine (statin, NSAIDs) they are taking, but I never give medical advice. I always tell them if anything seems off call their PCP or go immediately to the E.R.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

Don’t do it. As a student you are likely to suffer from the Dunning Kruger effect (look it up). You’ll have enough of it as an attending. My friends joke I should run an Ortho clinic upstairs on holidays from all the questions I get.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[doc05]

You aren't qualified to give any advice. So don't.