Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Maintaining private space when patients share trying times with you

Yann Meunier, MD
Physician
April 8, 2011
Share
Tweet
Share

Year: 1987

Setting: Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital in Paris, France
Position: Specialist in tropical diseases

I am a consultant in tropical diseases at the Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital in Paris in professor Marc Gentilini’s department, which has been receiving HIV/AIDS patients from all parts of the world since the onset of the pandemic.

Indeed, in the early days most patients came from Haiti and Africa and were seen primarily in tropical disease departments because of their geographical origin. Now famous international stars, such as Rock Hudson and Rudolph Nureyev, seek treatment on our premises and at the Pasteur Institute, which works closely with the hospital. In 1982, one of the patients of Dr. Willy Rozenbaum had a lymph node biopsied and sent to the Pasteur Institute where professor Luc Montagnier and his team identified the virus causing AIDS, which ultimately came to be known as the human immunodeficiency virus. In 2008, he and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi were awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for this breakthrough achievement.

One of my patients is a bisexual fashion designer in his mid-30s. He tells me about his past pleasures, attending colorful and extravagant parties on yachts belonging to billionaires in the Greek islands. He is happy to share the best moments of his life with me, and enjoys reminiscing. As he recounts with great details these experiences, I sometimes contrast the excitement in his voice with the poorness of his diagnosis, and I face my own conflicting feelings of joy and sadness on his behalf. Nevertheless, I try to live in the moment with him and I pay close attention to the descriptions that he provides. His current girlfriend sometimes comes with him and also tells me how she is doing. Over time, we witness the progressive physical and psychological downward spiral that leads her boyfriend to his death.

In the aftermath of the burial, she is despondent and keeps in touch with me at the hospital. One day she asks for my personal phone number, which I give to her. In the ensuing weeks her morale goes further down and she frequently calls me at night because she cannot sleep. This taxing relationship continues until she finally heeds my advice and begins seeing a psychiatrist when she starts to have suicidal thoughts. He treats her successfully. Though I am pleased with her outcome, I wonder whether I should have given her my home phone number in the first place.

Lesson for the doctor: Maintaining a private space can be difficult when patients share trying times with you. Hard choices must be made, but the patient’s best interests should always prevail.

Yann Meunier is the health promotion manager for the Stanford Prevention Research Center who blogs at Scope at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Submit a guest post and be heard on social media’s leading physician voice.

Prev

The FDA does not approve the uses of drugs

April 8, 2011 Kevin 5
…
Next

Becoming the official caregiver to your sick parent

April 8, 2011 Kevin 5
…

Tagged as: Patients

Post navigation

< Previous Post
The FDA does not approve the uses of drugs
Next Post >
Becoming the official caregiver to your sick parent

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Yann Meunier, MD

  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Always treat your patient with compassion

    Yann Meunier, MD
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    You cannot treat a patient against his will

    Yann Meunier, MD
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    Frustration when a government does not provide the necessary health care

    Yann Meunier, MD

More in Physician

  • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Why starting with why can transform your medical practice

    Neil Baum, MD
  • Life’s detours may be blessings in disguise

    Osmund Agbo, MD
  • Inside the heart of internal medicine: Why we stay

    Ryan Nadelson, MD
  • The quiet grief behind hospital walls

    Aaron Grubner, MD
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    How to advance workforce development through research mentorship and evidence-based management

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • When a medical office sublease turns into a legal nightmare

      Ralph Messo, DO | Physician
    • Addressing menstrual health inequities in adolescents

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
    • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why regular exercise is the best prescription for lifelong health

      George F. Smith, MD | Conditions
    • When the weight won’t budge: the hidden physiology of grief, stress, and set point

      Sarah White, APRN | Conditions
    • Why starting with why can transform your medical practice

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Why your most heroic act might be in a department meeting [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Life’s detours may be blessings in disguise

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Physician

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 2 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Why specialist pain clinics and addiction treatment services require strong primary care

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Conditions
    • When a medical office sublease turns into a legal nightmare

      Ralph Messo, DO | Physician
    • Addressing menstrual health inequities in adolescents

      Callia Georgoulis | Conditions
    • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why regular exercise is the best prescription for lifelong health

      George F. Smith, MD | Conditions
    • When the weight won’t budge: the hidden physiology of grief, stress, and set point

      Sarah White, APRN | Conditions
    • Why starting with why can transform your medical practice

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • Why your most heroic act might be in a department meeting [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Life’s detours may be blessings in disguise

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Maintaining private space when patients share trying times with you
2 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...