To Accept or Refuse Patient’s Gift in Money? and How? – Case Report with Review

This report describes a (rare) situation when a patient’s first gift to a young doctor was in money. This happened in very specific circumstances – in a refugee camp during the War in Croatia. The data are taken from a large study on gifts, conducted on a representative sample of Croatian general practitioners (GPs), N = 265, from 2358 in total.

Pro and contra factors are discussed, considering tradition and customs, but also a lack of knowledge of young doctors in handling gifts in general. The intention of this report is primarily educative, with review of (scarce) literature, and recommendations, where the generally accepted rules might have exceptions.