The physician-to-physician health-care barriers—a phenomenological study

Objectives: This study examines attitudes consisting of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (T-F-B) chains experienced in imagination by physicians before and during their own treatment as patients and before and during the treatment of other physicians as patients. Methods: Ninety-six physicians from three countries completed a questionnaire about their imagined attitudes in four situations: “before and during your visit to a physician as a patient” and “before and during a visit to you, as a physician, by another physician in the capacity of a patient”. These questionnaires were retrolectively and qualitatively analyzed. Results: All four situations evoked negative and/or stressful T-F-B reaction chains. Some of these chains were related to the context of two physicians meeting, such as feelings of shame when asking for medical care from another physician and fear of failing as the consulting physician. Conclusion: There are specific barriers to physicians seeking treatment from and providing treatment to other physicians, particularly feelings of shame on both sides. A questionnaire based on these results could be used to study larger and more diverse populations. Aspiring physicians can learn what it means to ask for medical treatment as a physician, potentially reducing anxiety or insecurity, and fostering greater compassion for their patients. Attention to these issues could be incorporated into communication training within the medical curriculum.