Study of Medical Students’ Malpractice Fear and Defensive Medicine: A “Hidden Curriculum?”
Introduction: Defensive medicine is a medical practice in which health care providers’ primary intent is to avoid criticism and lawsuits, rather than providing for patients’ medical needs. The purpose of this study was to characterize medical students’ exposure to defensive medicine during medical s...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
eScholarship Publishing, University of California
2014-05-01
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| Series: | Western Journal of Emergency Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://escholarship.org/uc/item/64k3t5s3 |
| _version_ | 1811265622857744384 |
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| author | William F. Johnston Robert M. Rodriguez David Suarez Jonathan Fortman |
| author_facet | William F. Johnston Robert M. Rodriguez David Suarez Jonathan Fortman |
| author_sort | William F. Johnston |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: Defensive medicine is a medical practice in which health care providers’ primary intent is to avoid criticism and lawsuits, rather than providing for patients’ medical needs. The purpose of this study was to characterize medical students’ exposure to defensive medicine during medical school rotations.
Methods: We performed a cross- sectional survey study of medical students at the beginning of their third year. We gave students Likert scale questionnaires, and their responses were tabulated as a percent with 95% confidence interval (CI).
Results: Of the 124 eligible third-year students,102 (82%) responded. Most stated they rarely worried about being sued (85.3% [95% CI=77.1% to 90.9%]). A majority felt that faculty were concerned about malpractice (55.9% [95% CI=46.2% to 65.1%]), and a smaller percentage stated that faculty taught defensive medicine (32.4% [95% CI=24.1% to 41.9%]). Many students believed their satisfaction would be decreased by MC and lawsuits (51.0% [95% CI=41.4% to 60.5%]). Some believed their choice of medical specialty would be influenced by MC (21.6% [95% CI=14.7% to 30.5%]), and a modest number felt their enjoyment of learning medicine was lessened by MC (23.5% [95% CI=16.4% to 32.6%]). Finally, a minority of students worried about practicing and learning procedures because of MC (16.7% [95% CI=10.7% to 25.1%]).
Conclusion: Although third-year medical students have little concern about being sued, they are exposed to malpractice concerns and taught considerable defensive medicine from faculty. Most students believe that fear of lawsuits will decrease their future enjoyment of medicine. However, less than a quarter of students felt their specialty choice would be influenced by malpractice worries and that malpractice concerns lessened their enjoyment of learning medicine. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T20:27:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-50cf6cdb8439439b9efcd397ba751a7b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1936-900X 1936-900X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T20:27:14Z |
| publishDate | 2014-05-01 |
| publisher | eScholarship Publishing, University of California |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Western Journal of Emergency Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-50cf6cdb8439439b9efcd397ba751a7b2022-12-22T03:17:50ZengeScholarship Publishing, University of CaliforniaWestern Journal of Emergency Medicine1936-900X1936-900X2014-05-0115329329810.5811/westjem.2013.8.19045Study of Medical Students’ Malpractice Fear and Defensive Medicine: A “Hidden Curriculum?”William F. Johnston0Robert M. Rodriguez1David Suarez2Jonathan Fortman3Hackensack University Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Hackensack, New JerseyUniversity of California at San Francisco, Department of Emergency Medicine, San Francisco, CaliforniaKaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Oakland, CaliforniaUniversity of California at San Francisco, Department of Emergency Medicine, San Francisco, CaliforniaIntroduction: Defensive medicine is a medical practice in which health care providers’ primary intent is to avoid criticism and lawsuits, rather than providing for patients’ medical needs. The purpose of this study was to characterize medical students’ exposure to defensive medicine during medical school rotations. Methods: We performed a cross- sectional survey study of medical students at the beginning of their third year. We gave students Likert scale questionnaires, and their responses were tabulated as a percent with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: Of the 124 eligible third-year students,102 (82%) responded. Most stated they rarely worried about being sued (85.3% [95% CI=77.1% to 90.9%]). A majority felt that faculty were concerned about malpractice (55.9% [95% CI=46.2% to 65.1%]), and a smaller percentage stated that faculty taught defensive medicine (32.4% [95% CI=24.1% to 41.9%]). Many students believed their satisfaction would be decreased by MC and lawsuits (51.0% [95% CI=41.4% to 60.5%]). Some believed their choice of medical specialty would be influenced by MC (21.6% [95% CI=14.7% to 30.5%]), and a modest number felt their enjoyment of learning medicine was lessened by MC (23.5% [95% CI=16.4% to 32.6%]). Finally, a minority of students worried about practicing and learning procedures because of MC (16.7% [95% CI=10.7% to 25.1%]). Conclusion: Although third-year medical students have little concern about being sued, they are exposed to malpractice concerns and taught considerable defensive medicine from faculty. Most students believe that fear of lawsuits will decrease their future enjoyment of medicine. However, less than a quarter of students felt their specialty choice would be influenced by malpractice worries and that malpractice concerns lessened their enjoyment of learning medicine.http://escholarship.org/uc/item/64k3t5s3emergency departmentmedicinemalpractice |
| spellingShingle | William F. Johnston Robert M. Rodriguez David Suarez Jonathan Fortman Study of Medical Students’ Malpractice Fear and Defensive Medicine: A “Hidden Curriculum?” Western Journal of Emergency Medicine emergency department medicine malpractice |
| title | Study of Medical Students’ Malpractice Fear and Defensive Medicine: A “Hidden Curriculum?” |
| title_full | Study of Medical Students’ Malpractice Fear and Defensive Medicine: A “Hidden Curriculum?” |
| title_fullStr | Study of Medical Students’ Malpractice Fear and Defensive Medicine: A “Hidden Curriculum?” |
| title_full_unstemmed | Study of Medical Students’ Malpractice Fear and Defensive Medicine: A “Hidden Curriculum?” |
| title_short | Study of Medical Students’ Malpractice Fear and Defensive Medicine: A “Hidden Curriculum?” |
| title_sort | study of medical students malpractice fear and defensive medicine a hidden curriculum |
| topic | emergency department medicine malpractice |
| url | http://escholarship.org/uc/item/64k3t5s3 |
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