| Patients’ Rights | Students’ Code of Conduct | Behavioral Examples |
|---|---|---|
| The patient has a right to know who the provider of care is. | The student should dress professionally, wear a name tag (specifying name and medical student), and introduce him/herself. | Unless told otherwise, the patient will assume the provider is a physician. |
| The patient has the right to be addressed by his or her name. | The student should address the adult patient by the surname, the child by the first name. The student may also address adult patients by Ms. or Sir. |
Do not use patronizing titles, e.g., grandpa, mom, dear, cutie, etc. |
| The patient has a right to know what to expect during the interview and to refuse to answer questions. | The student should preface questions about sensitive issues. | e.g., “I need to ask you certain questions about…” |
| The patient has the right to be interviewed and examined in a comfortable, professional environment. | The student should appear respectful and empathic. | Put patient at ease. Watch your body language: sit down, appear relaxed and talk to patient at eye level. Avoid threatening behaviors such as hovering or staring. Avoid casual touching, e.g., hands on back or shoulder of patient. |
| The patient has a right to know what to expect during the physical examination and to refuse to be examined. | It should be explained to the patient what part of the body will be examined (before undressing). | No peeking techniques, e.g., pulling up bra to examine heart or Tanner staging. No surprises. Always warn: “I will now examine your groin area for lymph nodes.” |
| The patient has a right to modesty. | The patient should be given a gown and privacy to undress. | Do not undress or help undress patient, regardless of age. |
| The patient has a right to a chaperoned examination. No female medical student may examine a male patient alone. No male medical student may examine a female patient alone. | All pelvic exams must be chaperoned. For all other examinations the patient should be asked if they would like someone else in the room. | e.g., “Do you want your mother or relative in the room while I examine you?” Be particularly careful when examining children and teenagers. |