The mentally ill physician as practitioner

E. D. Shapiro, H. Pinsker and J. H. Shale 3rd

Mentally ill physicians may hurt patients through direct involvement of physicians' symptoms. Not all mentally ill physicians are disqualified by their illness from practicing medicine. Some may be disqualified for some time or permanently; some may be able to continue to function effectively. Certain characteristics of the physician-patient relationship and physicians' beliefs about their own and their colleagues' work make it difficult to discern harm done to patients.