Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Medical students should not be liable for malpractice

Kevin Pho, MD
KevinMD
February 21, 2011
Share
Tweet
Share

Should medical students receive immunity from malpractice liability?

That’s an interesting question that’s raised in a bill from Arizona.

According to the Arizona Daily Sun,

State lawmakers are moving to keep patients injured by medical students from being able to sue them.

But proponents said that won’t leave victims without recourse.

SB1429, awaiting full Senate action, would spell out that students are not liable for malpractice if they are under the supervision of a licensed health care professional. The only way a student could be sued would be if a patient could prove by clear and convincing evidence that the student acted with gross negligence.

Kelsey Lundy, lobbyist for Midwestern University, said that, at one time, students were never named in lawsuits. But she said her school, which trains osteopaths, has had four of these suits in the last five years.

Anything that a medical student does is supervised and countersigned by a physician — whether it’s an intern, resident or attending doctor. If malpractice occurred, legal liability would fall upon the doctor who signed the order and the hospital where the event took place.

Suing a medical student — even if they’re dropped from the case, as many are — incurs considerable cost to the medical school, which must pay tens of thousand of dollars in legal fees in these instances.

And furthermore, merely being involved in a malpractice suit will follow the medical student, and potentially make it more difficult to find a job, or more expensive to obtain malpractice insurance.

At the osteopathic school cited in the article, which endured several such medical student lawsuits, I also wonder whether this will have a detrimental affect on education. Would the school, for instance, keep a tighter leash on its students, increasing supervision and potentially impede learning?

Injured patients do not benefit from suing medical students.  If negligence occurs, a supervising physician will answer the charges, and participate in the malpractice process.

Leave medical students alone, and exempt them from medical malpractice lawsuits.

ADVERTISEMENT

Kevin Pho is an internal medicine physician and on the Board of Contributors at USA Today.  He is founder and editor of KevinMD.com, also on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn.

Prev

How powerful a few words can be in the exam room

February 21, 2011 Kevin 10
…
Next

Online reputation can have career implications for physicians

February 22, 2011 Kevin 5
…

Tagged as: Malpractice, Medical school

Post navigation

< Previous Post
How powerful a few words can be in the exam room
Next Post >
Online reputation can have career implications for physicians

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Kevin Pho, MD

  • Surgeon General’s warning: the dark side of social media on children’s mental health

    Kevin Pho, MD
  • Unmasking wage disparity in health care: the truth behind the Elmhurst Hospital physician strike

    Kevin Pho, MD
  • Is FDA-approved Veozah a game-changer in menopause hot flash treatment?

    Kevin Pho, MD

More in KevinMD

  • The Spandex dilemma: Does size still matter?

    Janet L. Cray
  • Surgeon General’s warning: the dark side of social media on children’s mental health

    Kevin Pho, MD
  • Unmasking wage disparity in health care: the truth behind the Elmhurst Hospital physician strike

    Kevin Pho, MD
  • Is FDA-approved Veozah a game-changer in menopause hot flash treatment?

    Kevin Pho, MD
  • Remembering Heather Armstrong: the tragic loss of the “Queen of Mommy Bloggers” sparks a global conversation on mental health

    Kevin Pho, MD
  • Celebrating 2 million downloads of The Podcast by KevinMD!

    Kevin Pho, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • When language barriers become a medical emergency

      Monzur Morshed, MD and Kaysan Morshed | Physician
    • The dangerous racial bias in dermatology AI

      Alex Siauw | Tech
    • A surgeon’s view on RVUs and moral injury

      Rene Loyola, MD | Physician
    • Why what you do in midlife matters most

      Michael Pessman | Conditions
    • Why your health is a portfolio to manage

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • Protecting physicians when private equity buys in [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Rethinking the JUPITER trial and statin safety

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • How one physician redesigned her practice to find joy in primary care again [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • When language barriers become a medical emergency

      Monzur Morshed, MD and Kaysan Morshed | Physician
    • The measure of a doctor, the misery of a patient

      Anonymous | Physician
    • A doctor’s struggle with burnout and boundaries

      Humeira Badsha, MD | Physician
    • The stoic cure for modern anxiety

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Protecting physicians when private equity buys in [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why faith and academia must work together

      Adrian Reynolds, PhD | Education
    • Pancreatic cancer racial disparities

      Earl Stewart, Jr., MD | Conditions
    • What AI can never replace in medicine

      Jessica Wu, MD | Physician
    • Why the MAHA plan is the wrong cure

      Emily Doucette, MPH and Wayne Altman, MD | Policy
    • Why burnout prevention starts with leadership

      Kim Downey, PT & Shari Morin-Degel, LPC | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 94 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • When language barriers become a medical emergency

      Monzur Morshed, MD and Kaysan Morshed | Physician
    • The dangerous racial bias in dermatology AI

      Alex Siauw | Tech
    • A surgeon’s view on RVUs and moral injury

      Rene Loyola, MD | Physician
    • Why what you do in midlife matters most

      Michael Pessman | Conditions
    • Why your health is a portfolio to manage

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • Protecting physicians when private equity buys in [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Rethinking the JUPITER trial and statin safety

      Larry Kaskel, MD | Conditions
    • How one physician redesigned her practice to find joy in primary care again [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • When language barriers become a medical emergency

      Monzur Morshed, MD and Kaysan Morshed | Physician
    • The measure of a doctor, the misery of a patient

      Anonymous | Physician
    • A doctor’s struggle with burnout and boundaries

      Humeira Badsha, MD | Physician
    • The stoic cure for modern anxiety

      Osmund Agbo, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Protecting physicians when private equity buys in [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why faith and academia must work together

      Adrian Reynolds, PhD | Education
    • Pancreatic cancer racial disparities

      Earl Stewart, Jr., MD | Conditions
    • What AI can never replace in medicine

      Jessica Wu, MD | Physician
    • Why the MAHA plan is the wrong cure

      Emily Doucette, MPH and Wayne Altman, MD | Policy
    • Why burnout prevention starts with leadership

      Kim Downey, PT & Shari Morin-Degel, LPC | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Medical students should not be liable for malpractice
94 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...