Has anyone become actual friends with their doctor?

[Anonymous]

I have had the same doctor for about 5 years and I truly think they are an amazing lovely person and we are friendly and always discuss everyday things when I see them but I have always wanted to invite them over for dinner but I haven't because I feel weird.

I know a couple people who are friends with their doctor and actually still see them as a doctor too but I'm not exactly sure how that works.

So if you are friends with your doctor please answer these questions for me:

1. Do you still continue to see them as your doctor? Or did you switch to someone else on the practice etc...?
2. Is it a general practiconer or a specialist( mine is a specialist).
3. Is it weird?
4. If you are a doctor would you feel weird if one of your patients invited you over for dinner? Do you consider it innapropriate? I would invite their spouse too obviously.

[Anonymous]

If you were friends before or your kids go to school together or something, it would make sense. But otherwise it's weird.

[Anonymous]

My parents a vacation and go to dinner parties with their primary doctor. He's a good family friend.

My mom was an RN and they used to work together

[Anonymous]

Your doctor just has good bedside manner, OP.

[Anonymous]

If you're friends beforehand then they probably should never have been your doctor but that isn't too weird.

But at the end of the day it gets weird, my parents are both doctors and running into people socially is like, you just know too much intimate stuff about the other person. The friendship is inherently uneven.

[Anonymous]

I used to be friends with my dentist - we hung out sometimes, and he'd call me if he had an extra ticket to the symphony because he knew I was into that. Nice guy. We lost touch when I got a new job with new insurance and had to switch dentists.

Not sure about your situation, though - I suppose you could always ask.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your doctor just has good bedside manner, OP.

This is my thought, too. I've had a couple of doctors I really clicked with and thought "we'd be friends in real life." But the doctor's office isn't "real life" in that sense, so cultivating a friendship on the outside would be crossing a boundary I think not many are comfortable with.

[Anonymous]

^yeah, I agree. On a smaller scale, it's like I feel about some celebrities - oh, I'd be friends w/ them in real life....

It's not the same thing, but similar. I have two doctors that I've felt this way about in the past, but then I realize it's just weird.

[Anonymous]

I'm married to a doctor who has patients (male and female) who love him. They show up with gifts at our house.

We wouldn't go out to dinner with a patient of his regardless of how well we'd get along if we had just met socially. It's just not appropriate. Perhaps you can switch to another doctor and then ask her (and spouse) over for dinner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to be friends with my dentist - we hung out sometimes, and he'd call me if he had an extra ticket to the symphony because he knew I was into that. Nice guy. We lost touch when I got a new job with new insurance and had to switch dentists.

Not sure about your situation, though - I suppose you could always ask.

The thread is on Doctors.....

[Anonymous]

OP, if you invite your doc and spouse over, come back and let us know what kind of reaction you got. So curious.

[Anonymous]

Inappropriate. Maintain professional boundaries.

[Anonymous]

My friend briefly dated a doc after seeing him for an appointment or two. She was in her 20s, and I believe he was a resident. Apparently the guy was a huge jerk, which I'm not surprised about given failure to maintain boundaries w/patients.

[Anonymous]

Op here. Yeah typically I would absolutely agree with the boundaries except the dr. Is usually the one getting personal in conversation ( not innapropriate just stuff you talk about with friends). Also this is a specialist I see a couple times a year at most so it's not like I see them regularly. But yeah probably better to not. But I'm still torn.

[Anonymous]

My family became very close with our Primary Care doctor but this was in a very tiny village in Switzerland. My suggestion would be to invite them to something like a holiday party or 4th of July bbq--where you have invited lots of people and not just singling them out. If they come, you can build from that. If not, I'd let it be.