Malpractice allegations: A reality check for resident physicians

Abstract

Background: Medical malpractice is a source of stress and cost to physicians. Little is known about how it impacts resident physicians.

Methods: We analyzed data from the Comparative Benchmarking System between 2007 and 2016. We also surveyed surgery residents at our institution regarding malpractice in training.

Results: 4% of cases identified a resident physician and 32% involved a surgical specialty. Common allegations were "improper performance of surgery" and "improper management of surgical patient". 1 case attributed supervision as the major allegation but supervision was a contributing factor in 26% of cases. 18% of cases named a resident as a defendant. Most residents correctly answered that they can be defendants, agreed that a medico-legal curriculum is at least "moderately important", but had "poor" to "terrible" malpractice knowledge.

Conclusions: A significant number of medical malpractice claims involve resident physicians as a responsible party. Though universally recognized as important, medico-legal training in surgical residency is often lacking.