Professional courtesy

Professional courtesy is the tradition among physicians to not charge for treatment of each others family. The purpose was to discourage physicians from having members of their own family as patients, as well as to foster bonds among physicians. The custom dates back to Hippocrates.

The term may also be applied to specific behaviors in non-medical professions, such as police officers not ticketing each other. The phrase may also be applied in a literal form, such as required ethical behavior of lawyers towards each other.

In medical profession, this tradition is respected in the US, Egypt. Certain high profile physicians tend to disregard it to encourage fellow patients to use services of other less costly physicians.