Conscious Engagement within Patients’ and Simulated Participants’ Personal Space: Medical Students’ Perspective
Lead Author: Chara Banks‑McGovern
Submitted by: Amy Lorion, National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners

Banks-McGovern et al. capture the significance of their study in the first sentences of their abstract: “#MeToo prompted a shift in acceptable societal norms, sparking global recognition of the complexities of entering another’s personal space. Physical examinations are an integral part of medicine yet have the capacity to encroach upon patient’s personal space, whether in simulated or clinical environments. Examinations may be misconstrued as inappropriate advances, with negative effects for both patient and doctor.” As they note in the article, simulation and SPs can play a role in providing medical students with necessary “experience of and teaching on the crucial expertise behind a safe and mutually respectful physical examination.”

The authors approached this topic through semi-structured interviews with seven medical students, exploring their lived experience with the expectation that “[i]f we understand the perspective of medical students in this same moment, perhaps we could prevent further adoption of this dehumanising clinical gaze.” The interviews, performed by a near-peer, provide insight into the students’ experience that the authors use to suggest ways to assist both future physicians and their future patients.

Read the full article here.

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