Unconscious Patients Intrusively Probed Without Consent by Australian Medical Students

Medical students are performing intrusive exams on unconscious patients

Herald Sun

AUSTRALIAN medical students are carrying out intrusive procedures on unconscious and anaesthetised patients without gaining the patient's consent.

The unauthorised examinations include genital, rectal and breast exams, and raise serious questions about the ethics of up-and-coming doctors, Madison reports.

The research, soon to be published in international medical journal, Medical Education, describes - among others - a student with "no qualms" about performing an anal examination on a female patient because she didn't think the woman's consent was relevant.

Another case outlined in the research describes a man who was subjected to rectal examinations from a "queue" of medical students after he was anaesthetised for surgery...

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Medical Students Examine Unconscious Patients Without Consent

Fox News

Australian and UK medical students carried out intrusive procedures on unconscious and anesthetized patients without first gaining consent, news.com.au reported Friday.

The unauthorized examinations included genital, rectal and breast exams, according to Australian women's magazine Madison, and raised serious questions about the ethics of future doctors.

The research, to be published in international medical journal Medical Education, describes -- among others -- a student with "no qualms" about performing an anal examination on a female patient because she did not think the woman's consent was relevant.

Another case is of a man who was subjected to rectal examinations from a "queue" of medical students after he was anesthetized for surgery.

The author of the study, Professor Charlotte Rees, voiced concerns about senior medical staff ordering students to perform unauthorized procedures, leaving the students torn between the strong ethics of consent in society and the weak ethics of some medical staff.

Of students who were put in this position during the research, 82 percent obeyed orders...

[Full Article]

Medical Schools Can't Keep Up

As Ranks of Insured Expand, Nation Faces Shortage of 150,000 Doctors in 15 Years

The new federal health-care law has raised the stakes for hospitals and schools already scrambling to train more doctors.

Experts warn there won't be enough doctors to treat the millions of people newly insured under the law. At current graduation and training rates, the nation could face a shortage of as many as 150,000 doctors in the next 15 years, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges...