Obsessed w/malpractice

[sunflower79]

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O wise SDNers...

My dad, who has more than a slightly anxious personality, is continually concerned about malpractice, e.g. "if you make even one mistake and get sued, it's all over". But the simple fact is medical errors occur, and they are made by someone, even competent physicians. How do you all deal with the possibility of committing an error? Does my dad have reason to worry? Is there a way to rationally think about and cope with this possibility of error as a practicing doc?

thanks 🙂
sunflower79

 

[Future GI Guy]

I think if you work at the V.A., your chance of being named in a malpractice lawsuit is essentially zero. Food for thought.

As an intern, I've made a couple mistakes, but none have ever put the patient at risk. Most of them just come from being rushed (my senior resident wants me to get orders in BEFORE I go to lecture, so I'm cramming in orders), and they usually get caught before administration of medications or what have you.

The key is, early in your training you're going to make mistakes, and that's why you have backup residents, attendings, pharmacists, and even the nurses questioning your orders. As you get more and more training, those mistakes should definitely become less and less, and you find yourself explaining your thought process to other people.

This is the time in my training when I'm learning most from the things I've done wrong, and I'm absolutely confident I'll get it right the next time.