How can you avoid mistakes while practicing medicine?

[jjoeirv]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Medical schools generally pick the best and brightest students. Students go through medical school, do a residency, and become a medical doctor.

I sometimes hear about medical doctors being taken to court for malpractice. What are the most common reasons for medical doctors to make mistakes as doctors?:
(a)
Medical conditions are not black and white, such that all of the memorization and studying in med school that can possibly be done could never enable a doctor to correctly diagnose every disease.
(b)
The doctor did not study enough in med school (too much partying, drinking, and television), so that he/she lacks some essential knowledge that could have resulted in a correct diagnosis of the disease.
(c)
The doctor went to some substandard med school.

How can you be sure you will not make any mistakes once you become a medical doctor? I read about a neurosurgeon who was sued for $5 million. His malpractice insurance only covered $1 million, so that he may now lose his home and have to declare bankruptcy. I think that is so messed up, because you would think that a neurosurgeon should have the essential knowledge needed to do brain surgery (because of the many years of residency he/she underwent). Maybe the problem is not with him, but rather an opportunistic lawyer out to make a quick buck?

Many parents push their kids to become doctors, even when they are dum dums with the IQ of a rock. Some people who are in med school don't belong there, such that if they ever do become a medical doctor they would be incompetent. However, I am sure that the rigors of med school and residency would (hopefully) weed these students out before they are let loose on society.

 

[jed2023]

Originally posted by jjoeirv

I sometimes hear about medical doctors being taken to court for malpractice. How can you be sure you will not make any mistakes once you become a medical doctor?

Are you for real? If you practice medicine long enough and see enough patients, you WILL make mistakes. There are no two ways about this. The only way not to make mistakes in medicine is to never practice. Are you even a med student? If so, I would guess MSI.

 

[UCSBMed1]

Hey now. Not even MSI's are that clueless...

 

[dread]

Studies have shown that miscommuncation between patients and doctors with patients seeking answers or revenge for whatever reason correlate better with medical malpractice suits then "medical mistakes". Regarding mistakes though, they are bound to happen as doctors are only human and you are correct in that patients usually don't present with classic symptoms. A lot of medicine is just knowing when to consider atypical presentations of diseases that you don't want to miss. "Cancer misdiagnosis" or a delay in cancer diagnosis is a classic example, with patients presenting with symptoms as vague as fatigue and weight loss. And then you have malpractice lawyers fishing for these cases through advertising looking for patients who have ever had cancer but not diagnoses "right away" which is almost every patient since you can't work up everyone who presents with fatigue and weight loss for every type of cancer everytime. Then of course there is cerebral palsy, an indication that many laywers and patients see fit to sue doctors for since these payments are usually in the millions even though studies have shown that only some 10% of CP cases occur during the birthing process when the ob's are even present. It's definitely getting worse and it won't be getting any better so long as lawyers and the public sees lawsuits as "easy money" and reform is blocked by trial lawyers, but that's not a good reason to dissuade you from practicing medicine.

 

[aphistis]

Originally posted by dread
Studies have shown that miscommuncation between patients and doctors with patients seeking answers or revenge for whatever reason correlate better with medical malpractice suits then "medical mistakes". Regarding mistakes though, they are bound to happen as doctors are only human and you are correct in that patients usually don't present with classic symptoms. A lot of medicine is just knowing when to consider atypical presentations of diseases that you don't want to miss. "Cancer misdiagnosis" or a delay in cancer diagnosis is a classic example, with patients presenting with symptoms as vague as fatigue and weight loss. And then you have malpractice lawyers fishing for these cases through advertising looking for patients who have ever had cancer but not diagnoses "right away" which is almost every patient since you can't work up everyone who presents with fatigue and weight loss for every type of cancer everytime. Then of course there is cerebral palsy, an indication that many laywers and patients see fit to sue doctors for since these payments are usually in the millions even though studies have shown that only some 10% of CP cases occur during the birthing process when the ob's are even present. It's definitely getting worse and it won't be getting any better so long as lawyers and the public sees lawsuits as "easy money" and reform is blocked by trial lawyers, but that's not a good reason to dissuade you from practicing medicine.

A doctor's (or dentist's, or anyone else, for that matter) adroitness at avoiding malpractice lawsuits typically has much less to do with the mistakes they make than it does with how they relate to the patients. It's not bulletproof, but the more positive you can make your image in the patient's mind, the more forgiving they'll generally be.

 

[oldtimer]

The OP has to be in high school because even premeds aren't that naive.

 

[Bobblehead]

Let's not turn this into a mocking session. I'm sure everyone that's posted their snippy little comments in this thread has a perfect understanding of medical malpractice to the point where they wouldn't need a lawyer if they had a suit filed against them.

Here's a pretty decent article regarding medical malpractice as it relates to residents by the ACP. This should be fairly helpful to most people reading these boards.

http://www.acponline.org/journals/news/jun95/resmalpr.htm

 

[ItsGavinC]

Originally posted by aphistis
A doctor's (or dentist's, or anyone else, for that matter) adroitness at avoiding malpractice lawsuits typically has much less to do with the mistakes they make than it does with how they relate to the patients. It's not bulletproof, but the more positive you can make your image in the patient's mind, the more forgiving they'll generally be.

So true. Doctors get sued all the time, but friends who happen to be doctors rarely get sued.

 

[727CAPT]

Communication skills assessment tests to ascertain lawsuit probability and set insurance rates?


http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2003/10/27/prl21027.htm