Commentary

We treat patients, not clients


 

All of Dr. Nasrallah’s comprehensive list of “nags” are noteworthy (“Let me tell you how I feel…” From the Editor, Current Psychiatry, August 2009) however, I will focus on calling patients “clients.” I feel that this practice strikes at psychiatrists’ identity as physicians. I have noted with increasing frequency and alarm that psychiatrists and nurses are falling into this trap that strikes at the core of our profession. It is as if words are not important.

Roslyn Seligman, MD
Professor of psychiatry
University of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH

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