Do doctors outside of US routinely shake hands with their patients and staff? [closed]
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Researching whether fist-bumps indeed would transmit less bacteria than a handshake, I found that, apparently, shaking hands with your doctor is a thing in the US, and, apparently, is expected by both the doctors and the patients; as well as shaking hands in general between the staff at the hospitals.
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2014/09/handshakes-transmit-germs-doctors.html
http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-fist-bump-handshake-germs-20140728-story.html
Ignoring what you'd think is an instance of an obvious ignorance of the germ theory of disease, is this at all expected within the health facilities of universal healthcare countries, too, or is this practice rather limited outside of the US?
Best Answer
In western Europe, the practice of shaking hands is common, with anyone you meet, including your doctor. Recent research shows that there is very low risk to that; if you seriously want to avoid getting infection, you should adopt the East-Asian pratice of wearing face masks in public.
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Doctor discusses future of handshaking post-COVID-19 pandemic
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