title: Observers in the Medical Setting.
abstract: Requests for observation experiences are common in the emergency department and other medical settings. There is little guidance in the literature or in professional societies' polices about who should be granted this privilege. This article reviews the ethical and legal issues that should be taken into account when one decides whether to allow observers in the medical setting. At the heart of the issue is patient privacy. This article recommends that institutions have policies in place that address these activities and suggests content for such policies.
authors.affiliation: Ruth and Harry Roman Emergency Department, Department of Emergency Medicine, Burns and Allen Research Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. Electronic address: geiderman@cshs.org.
authors.forename: Joel M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Geiderman
mesh_terms: D003219:Confidentiality; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000941:ethics*; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000941:ethics*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011050:Policy Making; D012955:Societies, Medical; D013337:Students, Medical