Bashir's Professionalism

[Mr_Homn]

I am not finished with ds9 yet, but I am in the 7th season. I find it odd that Bashir pursues sexual relationships with his patients. Jadzia early on and Ezri towards the end. Isn't this completely unethical and unprofessional?

McCoy never had any sort of close relationship with his crwe other than the Captain and Spock. A true professional. Beverly Crusher had moments with Picard, but it was always either due to some intoxicating disease or extreme conditions. Understandable. The Doctor on Voyager was a hologram. Phlox was phlox. Bashir just hits on these girls casually. Doesn't he perform checkups on them? Does he see them naked in his office and then ask them out for coffee afterwards? It's just a bit weird to think about.

This never occured to me until recently, but it rubs me the wrong way. Can someone rationalize this for me?

What say you all?

 

[dub]

Hmm...the only time I felt a little uncomfortable about it was with Sarina, but not because of the doctor/patient issue. She was just getting her bearings and I can't properly explain it but it felt like he was taking advantage of her in a way. She was child-like in a sense. And it all happened too fast. So that made me a little uncomfortable, though I too fell in love with Faith Salie once she started playing a more "normal" character, which was all too brief. I do think if they stretched the development of that attempted relationship out over a season or a few episodes it would have worked better for me, and oddly enough getting past my slight discomfort with the situation, once the feelings were known and she had some more time I could easily be a Bashir/Sarina shipper. The actors seemed to have some chemistry.

But I never felt uncomfortable about Bashir's pursuit of Dax because he was always upfront about it, and if either Dax had a problem with him being her doctor she could have requested a nurse or a different doctor for the more personal exams. But she obviously never had a problem with it.

 

[RCAM]

Hmm...the only time I felt a little uncomfortable about it was with Sarina, but not because of the doctor/patient issue. She was just getting her bearings and I can't properly explain it but it felt like he was taking advantage of her in a way. She was child-like in a sense. And it all happened too fast. So that made me a little uncomfortable, though I too fell in love with Faith Salie once she started playing a more "normal" character, which was all too brief. I do think if they stretched the development of that attempted relationship out over a season or a few episodes it would have worked better for me, and oddly enough getting past my slight discomfort with the situation, once the feelings were known and she had some more time I could easily be a Bashir/Sarina shipper. The actors seemed to have some chemistry.

But I never felt uncomfortable about Bashir's pursuit of Dax because he was always upfront about it, and if either Dax had a problem with him being her doctor she could have requested a nurse or a different doctor for the more personal exams. But she obviously never had a problem with it.

Agree with this. I thought Bashir's and Sarina's chemistry was amazing, but obviously Bashir's over-eagerness was a mistake -- one he [rightfully] regretted very much and made amends for.

The other things didn't bother me at all.

 

[Mr_Homn]

But I never felt uncomfortable about Bashir's pursuit of Dax because he was always upfront about it, and if either Dax had a problem with him being her doctor she could have requested a nurse or a different doctor for the more personal exams. But she obviously never had a problem with it.

So.. you think it's okay for a doctor to pursue sexual relations with a patient if they are willing?

I don't care if a patient is willing or not. Only an unethical doctor would do such a thing.

I like bashir in most instances, but that kind of behavior is completely unprofessional. It would be like if Sisko tried to have sex with an ensign under his command.

 

[BruntFCA]

I am not finished with ds9 yet, but I am in the 7th season. I find it odd that Bashir pursues sexual relationships with his patients. Jadzia early on and Ezri towards the end. Isn't this completely unethical and unprofessional?

McCoy never had any sort of close relationship with his crew other than the Captain and Spock. A true professional. Beverly Crusher had moments with Picard, but it was always either due to some intoxicating disease or extreme conditions. Understandable. The Doctor on Voyager was a hologram. Phlox was phlox. Bashir just hits on these girls casually. Doesn't he perform checkups on them? Does he see them naked in his office and then ask them out for coffee afterwards? It's just a bit weird to think about.

This never occured to me until recently, but it rubs me the wrong way. Can someone rationalize this for me?

What say you all?

McCoy seemed awfully close to Yeoman Barrows in "Shore Leave"

Tonia Barrows: [about to change clothes in the bushes] "Don't peek."
Dr. McCoy: "My dear girl. I am a doctor. When I peek, it's in the line of duty."

As for Bashir isn't everyone on DS9 technically his patient? It seemed like he was the only Doctor on the station so that would basically mean that he would just have to live like a monk.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

But I never felt uncomfortable about Bashir's pursuit of Dax because he was always upfront about it, and if either Dax had a problem with him being her doctor she could have requested a nurse or a different doctor for the more personal exams. But she obviously never had a problem with it.

So.. you think it's okay for a doctor to pursue sexual relations with a patient if they are willing?

I don't care if a patient is willing or not. Only an unethical doctor would do such a thing.

I like bashir in most instances, but that kind of behavior is completely unprofessional. It would be like if Sisko tried to have sex with an ensign under his command.

Only if the doctor met the patient in a professional context.

What makes it unethical is more about the power relationship between the two people. Sisko has power over his ensigns. A doctor has power over his patients in a professional context. But if they met as colleagues in a social context, but he is also by default her doctor just because she lives on the station, he does not have power over her outside a medical context.

Now, Bashir most certainly had power over Serena, so that was unethical.

 

[dub]

So.. you think it's okay for a doctor to pursue sexual relations with a patient if they are willing?

I don't normally see my doctor outside of the doctor's office. If we attended parties together, had meetings outside of the doctor's office, saw each other walking about everyday, went to the only bar in town, hung out together with some of my other colleagues, worked together on missions when I wasn't the patient, became friends, saved each other's lives occasionally, had mutual friends, etc., and there was an attraction there, yes I think it would be perfectly okay. But since I only see my doctor once every couple of years or so, and then only for a few minutes, that would be weird and I would probably get another doctor. So in my mind it very much depends on the situation.