A Descriptive Study on Social Distance Behavior of Doctors

Abstract

Social distance in a doctor-patient relationship is defined as the degree of comfort that doctors feels towards their patients and the limit of establishing personal relationships with their patients. The Western practices as well as what most people know about doctor-patient interaction expect doctors to act according to their role as physicians towards their patients, focusing primarily on treatment. The objective of this study is to know whether Western practices when it comes to relationship with patients applies to the Filipino doctors. Psychologists and oncologists from Philippine General Hospital and Veterans Memorial Medical Center were the respondents in the research. A self-administered Likert scale questionnaire, which measures the behaviors and attitudes of relationships of doctors with patients, was given to each participant of the study. An in-depth interview was also conducted to doctors who were available during the period of data collection. This study showed that psychologists and oncologists from PGH and VMMC were not just acting according to their roles with their patients, but they were also able to manage to get to know their patients deeper, without affecting their competency. Philippine culture has a great impact on the way doctors relate with their patient. The doctor’s sex, age, years of practice, and medical school where he/she had been trained, had no significance in the distancing behavior towards the patient.