Fourth-year student Ikaneng Yingwane gives his perspective on errors and accountability in patient care.
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By being involved in the medical care of patients, we as medical students inadvertently put ourselves in positions where we may be found liable should the mismanagement/medical negligence of those patients occur. Medical errors are an unfortunate reality in healthcare settings, and they can have serious repercussions for both doctors and medical students. In such instances are medical students ethically bound to disclose and accept culpability for errors?
To answer this question, we firstly have to understand what medical errors are. Medical errors refer to a wide range of acts or omissions (what you did or what you didn’t do) that cause or threaten to harm patients. They can occur for a variety of reasons, including miscommunication, system faults, a lack of experience, or insufficient supervision. That said it becomes clearer to understand why it would be hard to disclose such information. We may fear legal implications, damage to our professional reputation, or potential negative effects during assessments. These can all be substantial hurdles to disclosure.
Weighed against the very hefty potential repercussions it seems counterintuitive to throw ourselves under the bus like that. Is it worth it and why? Well, it’s a matter of perspective. Aside from knowing that if you are on the MPS free student membership you can receive professional protection from them, yes, it appears as though the consequences of disclosing our involvement in these errors might cost us significantly. But can we say they are comparable to endangering someone’s life by affecting their health? Are we saying it is okay to undermine patient trust and perpetuate a culture of secrecy? Would we be living up to what it means to be doctors and the oath they took to serve and protect?
Well, if you’re not yet convinced allow me to say this then. What if I told you that we actually stand to benefit from disclosing medical errors as students? The benefit is not only to the affected patient(s) but to the greater health system. When we as medical students take responsibility for our errors, we reinforce a culture of safety and quality improvement which, in turn, has a positive impact on patient care. We can learn from our errors now while we are students by reflecting on our mistakes, identifying areas for improvement, and developing strategies to prevent similar errors in the future when the stakes are much higher.
Medical errors are a sad reality in the healthcare industry, and we as medical students must manage the ethical issues regarding accountability. When we do this we are fostering a culture of transparency, patient safety, and professional development by prioritising disclosure, learning from our mistakes, and making an effort to change. Medical students who accept accountability help to build a healthcare system that is constantly striving for improvement, which benefits patients and the entire medical community. We can help design a safer and more patient-centred future by practising ethically and dedicating ourselves to learning.
