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Teaching and learning in general practice: ethical and legal considerations for GP teachers and medical students

Michaela Kelly, Nancy Sturman and David Pakchung
Med J Aust 2020; 212 (9): . || doi: 10.5694/mja2.50593
Published online: 18 May 2020

Differences between general practice and hospital settings have ethical and legal implications for teachers and learners

The general practice setting provides a learning environment that creates a unique ethical and legal milieu for the general practitioner, the patient and the student. It is a less formal, more intimate and less anonymous setting than the hospital environment, and GPs often have long‐established relationships with patients and detailed knowledge of their circumstances. As a community‐centred enterprise, social connections between patients, their families, practice staff and the GP, and sometimes also students, may foster unintended breaches of confidentiality and a vulnerability to boundary crossings.1


  • 1 University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD
  • 2 Avant Mutual Group, Brisbane, QLD


Correspondence: m.kelly4@uq.edu.au

Acknowledgements: 

We thank Georgie Haysom (Head of Advocacy, Avant Mutual) and Catherine Hughes (Communications Manager, Advocacy Avant Mutual) for their review of the manuscript and their revision suggestions.

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

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