Professional Boundaries and Sexual Misconduct - 2025

Wednesday, October 15, 2025, 12:00 AM - Sunday, October 15, 2028, 11:59 PM


AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ (2.00 hours), AAPA Category 1 Credit(s) (2.00 hours), Non-Physician Attendance (2.00 hours)

The Georgia Composite Medical Board requires physicians and other allied health professionals licensed by the board to complete two hours of professional boundaries and sexual misconduct training before their next licensure cycle. Varying knowledge of the specifics of the law (HB458) and its implications for practice exist. This course will close this gap in knowledge and will increase awareness of appropriate boundaries and the communication skills needed to provide patient centered care.

1. Explain how to proceed with basic as well as sensitive examinations and the communication with patients that is required as a component of such examinations
2. Discuss boundaries, sexual boundaries, impacts of trauma, and implicit bias
3. List strategies to minimize risk of sexual misconduct
4. Describe the components of Georgia HB 458 and the reporting requirements for sexual assaults

The cost for the program is $10.

Current Piedmont Healthcare, Piedmont Clinic, and Piedmont Staff may contact [email protected] for the promotional code to use.

To Claim Credit for completing this activity:

1. Go to "Begin" and click on "Claim CE"

2. Follow prompts to complete the post-test and evaluation.

3. Credit hours will be reflected on your transcript, or you download your certificate.

Additional information

References/Bibliography

• AbuDagga A et al.  Cross sectional analysis of the 1039 US Physicians reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank for Sexual Misconduct, 2003-2013 (2016  PLOS ONE 11(2): e0147800

• Appel JM. Boundaries in Search of Boundaries: Establishing Parameters for Physician Sexual Misconduct. J Leg Med. 2023 Jul-Dec;43(3-4):123-139. doi: 10.1080/01947648.2024.2422106. Epub 2024 Nov 26. PMID: 39589164.

• Baxley E, Dunahue S, Koempel A, Anderson A, Hansen B, LeRoy G, Magill M. Sexual Misconduct by Board Certified Family Physicians. J Am Board Fam Med. 2024 Jul-Aug;37(4):698-705. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2023.230413R1. PMID: 39455261.
  Begeny CT, Arshad H, Cuming T, Dhariwal DK, Fisher RA, Franklin MD, Jackson PM, McLachlan GM, Searle RH, Newlands C. Sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape by colleagues in the surgical workforce, and how women and men are living different realities: observational study using NHS population-derived weights. Br J Surg. 2023 Oct 10;110(11):1518-1526. doi: 10.1093/bjs/znad242. Erratum in: Br J Surg. 2024 Jan 3;111(1):znad385. doi: 10.1093/bjs/znad385. PMID: 37697690; PMCID: PMC10564399.

• Brooks E, et al.  Physician Boundary Violations in a Physician’s Health Program:  A 19 year Review (2012) J American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 40(1) 59-66

• Bruce MJ, Acierno R. Medical board transparency regarding physician sexual misconduct: Two years post-policy updates. J Trauma Stress. 2023 Feb;36(1):247-250. doi: 10.1002/jts.22897. Epub 2022 Nov 28. PMID: 36443893.

• Dubois, J. et al.  Sexual Violation of Patients by Physicians:  A mixed methods, exploratory analysis of 101 cases.  Sexual Abuse (2019) 3(5) 503-523

• Gulrajani C.  A Duty to Protect our Patients from Physician Sexual Misconduct.  J American Academy Psychiatry and the Law (2002) 48(2) 14-20

• Gutheil TG and Gabbard F.  The concept of boundaries in clinical practice:  Theoretical and Risk Management Decisions.  American Journal of Psychiatry (1993) Feb 150 (2): 188-196

• Hanggodo S, Klufas T, Saini S, Zhou AE, Weston G, Grant-Kels JM. From patients to partners: Ethical complexities of maintaining professional boundaries in a digital age. Clin Dermatol. 2025 Feb 11:S0738-081X(25)00040-9. doi: 10.1016/j.clindermatol.2025.02.006. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39947336.

• Lampe L, Hitching R, Hammond TE, Park J, Rich D. Being a 'good' doctor: Understanding and managing professional boundaries is challenging and can lead to stress and burnout. Australas Psychiatry. 2023 Dec;31(6):764-767. doi: 10.1177/10398562231191662. Epub 2023 Aug 10. PMID: 37563780; PMCID: PMC10725619.

• McIntosh T, Pendo E, Walsh HA, Baldwin KA, King P, Anderson EE, Caldicott CV, Carter JD, Johnson SH, Mathews K, Norcross WA, Shaffer DC, DuBois JM. What Can State Medical Boards Do to Effectively Address Serious Ethical Violations? J Law Med Ethics. 2023;51(4):941-953. doi: 10.1017/jme.2024.6. Epub 2024 Mar 13. PMID: 38477290; PMCID: PMC10937163.

• McIntosh T, Walsh H, Parsons M, Solomon ED, Mozersky J, DuBois JM. Responding to Sexual Abuse in Health Care: Development of a Guide for Patients. J Patient Cent Res Rev. 2022 Apr 18;9(2):117-121. doi: 10.17294/2330-0698.1881. PMID: 35600235; PMCID: PMC9022717.

• O'Connor M, Rudge C, Stewart C. Sexual Boundary Violations by Doctors - Context, Regulatory Consequences and Preventive Strategies. J Law Med. 2024 May;31(1):70-87. PMID: 38761390.

• Polles AG, Araujo CNP, Hemphill RS, Gao H, Merlo LJ. Characterizing Referrals to Professional Health Monitoring Programs for Unprofessional Sexual Behavior. J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 2024 Dec 12;52(4):429-440. doi: 10.29158/JAAPL.240069-24. PMID: 39266242.

• Sansone R.  Crossing the Line.  Sexual Boundary Violations (2209)  Psychiatry (Edgemont) 6(6) 45-48

• Sindhu KK, Schaffer AC, Cohen IG, Allensworth RH, Adashi EY. Honoring the public trust: curbing the bane of physician sexual misconduct. J Law Biosci. 2022 Mar 29;9(1):lsac007. doi: 10.1093/jlb/lsac007. eCollection 2022 Jan-Jun.

• Sindhu KK, Schaffer AC, Cohen IG, Allensworth RH, Adashi EY. Honoring the public trust: curbing the bane of physician sexual misconduct. J Law Biosci. 2022 Mar 29;9(1):lsac007. doi: 10.1093/jlb/lsac007. PMID: 35371518; PMCID: PMC8968028.

• Wiggins M. I am the psychiatric patient and the psychiatric patient is me: Retelling a lived experience narrative of professional sexual misconduct. J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 2025 Feb;32(1):86-88. doi: 10.1111/jpm.13087. Epub 2024 Jul 20. PMID: 39033319; PMCID: PMC11704992.

For activity related questions, please contact
Email: [email protected]

For CME general questions, please contact
Email: [email protected]

In support of improving patient care, Piedmont Healthcare is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

In addition to AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^TM for physicians, ANCC credit for nurses, and ACPE credit for pharmacists, Piedmont Healthcare also offers AAPA Category 1 Credit for PAs, APA credit for psychologists, ASWB ACE credit for social work, BOC credit for athletic trainers, CPEU CDR credit for dietitians, and IPCE credit. 

Cancellation Policy

Piedmont Healthcare reserves the right to cancel or postpone this program if necessary; in the event of cancellation, course fees will be fully refunded. We are not responsible for other costs incurred such as non-refundable airline tickets or hotel penalties.

Accessibility Statement
 
Piedmont Healthcare is committed to ensuring that its programs, services, goods and facilities are accessible to individuals with disabilities as specified under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008.  If you have needs that require special accommodations, including dietary concerns, please contact Continuing Education at [email protected].

Piedmont Healthcare adheres to ACCME Criteria, Standards and Policies regarding industry support of continuing medical education. Disclosure of faculty and their commercial relationships will be made prior to the activity.

Mitigation of Relevant Financial Relationships

Piedmont Healthcare adheres to the ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity, including faculty, planners, reviewers or others are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (commercial interests). All relevant conflicts of interest have been mitigated prior to the commencement of the activity.